Foreign trade relations of Ukraine and Poland: 2022–2024

Abstract

Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of the russian federation, Poland has become a strategic ally of Ukraine in resisting unprovoked armed aggression, having made an invaluable contri­bution not only to solving the problem of forced migration of Ukrainian refugees, but also to the restoration of trade and economic relations with the leading countries of the world, acquired the status of a key trade partner. However, the war became a test for neighboring countries in the field of foreign trade in agricultural products, in particular grain. The study is based on the hypothesis of the need to overcome the negative consequences of the "grain conflict" that affected the volume and dynamics of foreign trade relations between Ukraine and Poland, cooperation in the direction of developing an effective mechanism for regulating the export of agricultural products of Ukraine. The following research methods were used to test the hypothesis: generalization, analysis and synthesis, comparison, scientific abstrac­tion and systematization. It was found that the main characteristics of foreign trade between the countries were the raw materials focus of Ukrainian exports against the background of imports of Polish products with high added value, a negative foreign trade balance and incomplete use of the potentials of both countries. The main prerequisites of the "grain conflict" were manifestations of unfair competition by Ukrai­nian exporters along with the implementation of the requirements of the "green course" on the territory of the EU. It was established that unilateral trade restrictions on grain and other agricultural products, together with politically colored protests by Polish farmers and transporters, accompanied by the blocking of the Polish-Ukrainian border, endangered the common gains in foreign economic relations made over decades and under conditions of war. Due to the specifics of the EU sanctions mechanism aimed at weakening the economy of the aggressor country, Poland continues to trade certain goods with russia and belarus, including agricultural products. Conclu­sions were made about the need, in the conditions of accelerating the European integration of Ukraine, to improve the joint mechanism of cooperation with Poland to prevent the destructive impact on the agricultural products markets and to create condi­tions for fair competition in the Single European Market, including taking into account the risk of the deployment of opposition from farmers of other EU countries.