Poland: Instead of the domestic cucumber - Russian and Belarusian?

Published Feb 2, 2022

Tridge summary

The article highlights the confusion and concern among Polish producers and exporters due to the conflicting protectionist policies of the Russian Federation and the European Union (EU, including Belarus) towards domestic vegetable production. Starting August 2014, both Russia and Belarus have imposed export bans on Polish vegetables, while allowing Russian vegetables, especially those produced in modern greenhouse facilities with lower heating costs, to enter the Polish market freely. This one-sided ban not only disadvantages Polish producers but also increases the competitiveness of Russian vegetables during the ongoing energy crisis. In contrast, Polish producers face rising production costs, especially in heating crops, making it challenging for them to compete. Significant imports of cucumbers from Russia and Belarus, amounting to thousands of tons, have been noted, with concerns about the lack of transparency in the origin of these imports and the potential impact on the Polish market.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

We are not fully able to understand the logic of actions taken by both our government and the European Union to protect domestic vegetable production. From August 2014, our vegetables cannot be exported to the Russian Federation, and from January 1, 2022, Belarus also introduced a similar ban. It turns out, however, that it works only one way and only to the disadvantage of Polish producers and exporters of vegetables. Because the same vegetables, but produced in Russia, enter Poland without any problems. The problem is getting more and more serious right now, in the time of the energy crisis. The Russians have invested very large sums in modern greenhouse facilities, and their production has become much more competitive due to lower heating costs. The fall in the value of the ruble against the dollar will make the greenhouse vegetable offers from Russia even more attractive. Meanwhile, production costs in Poland are rising dramatically, especially when we look at the costs of ...

Source: Warzywa