BUDAPEST, HUNGARY — Hungary is seeking a continuation of import curbs on Ukrainian grain and oilseeds to five eastern European Union (EU) countries until at least the end of 2023, Reuters reported, citing Hungary’s state secretary of agriculture following a meeting of EU farm ministers in Brussels, Belgium.

Speaking with state news agency MTI on May 30, Ministry of Agriculture State Secretary Zsolt Feldman said Hungary also asked for financial support from the EU for local farmers to help with the safe transportation and sale of grain stocks that are stuck in domestic storage ahead of this year’s harvest.

The EU on May 2 set restrictions until June 5 on imports of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed to ease the excess supply of the grains in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Those countries had complained cheaper Ukrainian grain was making domestic production unprofitable.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, said that during that period, Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed can be sold to any other country in the 27-nation bloc. The Commission has said it could extend the grain import restrictions beyond June 5 if exceptional conditions continue.

The EU had earlier eased all imports from Ukraine to help the country’s efforts to fend off Russia’s invasion. The five countries became transit routes for Ukrainian grain that could not be exported through its Black Sea ports because of the war, which began in February 2022.

Three ports in the Odesa region were opened under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey with Ukraine and Russia in July, to create a safe corridor for exports to help tackle the global food crisis.