- Title: POLAND: Polish farmers fear consequences of Russian sanctions
- Date: 11th August 2014
- Summary: CHROSCINA, POLAND (AUGUST 11, 2014) (REUTERS) TRACTORS ON FARM BELONGING TO MICHAL GEDZINSKI VARIOUS COWS IN PEN GEDZINSKI PETTING COW COW (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) FARMER, MICHAL GEDZINSKI, SAYING: "I think, first of all, that prices of beef may change and that may have a strong effect on this industry." DROGOSZOW, POLAND (AUGUST 11, 2014) (REUTERS) CHICKEN FARM VARIOUS CHICKENS (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) CHICKEN FARM OWNER, ANDRZEJ SIERADZKI, SAYING: "We have become a leader (in poultry farming), a giant one on an EU scale, and we must in fact export about 40 per cent (of the product). In a situation when this is not possible our situation will become very difficult. We will need to either slow down the production, nobody will be producing at a loss - this is not possible. We can also expect bankruptcies if the situation really evolves in such a way that there will be nothing left to do with the product." TRACTOR VARIOUS COWS GRAZING OPOLE, POLAND (AUGUST 11, 2014) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) HEAD OF OPOLE AGRICULTURAL CHAMBER, MAREK FROELICH, SAYING: "The constant change (of farming) from one specialization to a different one will not lead to anything good and these people (farmers) already deserve compensation but they must feel that this will happen, that they evolve in their business without fear and survive the next year. One can assume that the embargo won't last longer than a year. I think the Russian consumer will demand these high quality products for sure." WARSAW, POLAND (AUGUST 11, 2014) (REUTERS) RESTAURANT WITH DISPLAY OF APPLES AND POLISH FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) BORDO RESTAURANT MANAGER, PATRYK ROZYCKI, SAYING: "The idea came from the internet. We came to the conclusion that it is worth to support Polish produce and that's why we put them (apples) up (laughs)." VARIOUS APPLES ON DISPLAY VARIOUS STREET VENDOR SELLING APPLES (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) WARSAW RESIDENT, KASIA, SAYING: "I think this action (of promoting Polish apples) will influence people. They will eat more apples and be healthier." MORE VARIOUS STREET VENDOR
- Embargoed: 26th August 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Poland
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Business,International Relations,Economy,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA6Y6CI6V9JIXZJNOK5KN8LHZMH
- Story Text: Poland was one of the first EU countries affected by Russian food bans in retaliation for Western sanctions over Moscow's actions in Ukraine. On August 1, Russia closed its borders to Polish fruit and vegetables, depriving farmers and exporters of a market worth more than 300 million euros (400 million U.S. dollars/238.26 million GBP) last year. Last week, more sanctions followed, including a ban on most EU food imports.
Moscow blamed repeated sanitary infringements by Polish farmers, but the move was widely seen at the time as retaliation for Poland's staunch support of Ukraine in its fight with pro-Russian separatists and Warsaw's push within the European Union for tougher sanctions on Russia.
Michal Gedzinski is the owner of a 130-hectare farm in the small village Chroscina in southern Poland. He breeds 140 cattle and until recently was hoping to specialize in the production of beef. Today he is afraid that his farm may become unprofitable.
"I think, first of all, that prices of beef may change and that may have a strong effect on this industry," said Gadzinski.
Owner of a chicken farm Andrzej Sieradzki has been breeding chickens for over 20 years and sells 370 thousand chickens for meat annually. He says Poland's growth into an EU leader in the industry has also made it vulnerable to sanctions targeted at the block.
"We have become a leader (in poultry farming), a giant one on an EU scale, and we must in fact export about 40 per cent (of the product)," he said.
"We will need to either slow down the production, nobody will be producing at a loss - this is not possible. We can also expect bankruptcies if the situation really evolves in such a way that there will be nothing left to do with the product."
The chairman of the local Agricultural Chamber in Opole explained that farmers are slower to respond and less flexible to change production than other branches of the economy and can suffer losses if not supported in the current situation.
"The constant change (of farming) from one specialization to a different one will not lead to anything good and these people (farmers) already deserve compensation but they must feel that this will happen, that they evolve in their business without fear and survive the next year. One can assume that the embargo won't last longer than a year. I think the Russian consumer will demand these high quality products for sure," Marek Froelich said.
In the Polish capitol Warsaw, residents showed solidarity with farmers by responding to calls to eat more apples following a recent Russian ban on the fruit, which represented a targeted strike against the biggest producer of apples and other agricultural products in Europe.
A restaurant in central Warsaw set up a box of apples for passers-by to take, decorated with a Polish flag to support local producers.
"The idea came from the internet. We came to the conclusion that it is worth to support Polish produce and that's why we put them (apples) up (laughs)," said the restaurant's manager Patryk Rozycki.
"I think this action (of promoting Polish apples) will influence people. They will eat more apples and be healthier," said Warsaw resident Kasia.
Senior agricultural experts from all 28 European Union countries will hold an emergency meeting next Thursday (August 14) to analyse the impact of a Russian ban on EU food imports. Roughly 10 percent of EU agricultural exports go to Russia annually and their total value is around 11 billion euros (14.73 billion US dollar), Commission figures show.
European Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said he is confident the EU farm sector can quickly find new markets for exports to Russia worth around 11 billion euros, roughly 10 percent of all EU agricultural sales outside the bloc.
A separate Russian ban on EU pork announced earlier this year has had relatively little impact, the Commission says, as farmers have found new markets in Asia and helped to fill the gap left by an outbreak of pig disease in the United States.
In France, Europe's biggest agricultural nation, farmers have voiced concern about the risk of a glut of unsold produce from Eastern Europe flooding the Western European market.
Poland said it will file a complaint to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the Russian ban on Polish exports of fruit and vegetables, a move criticised by Brussels-based lawyers who argue that it is in the EU's interests to de-escalate the crisis. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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