“We have a large margin of excess food. This is evidenced by, for example, exports, which last year amounted to almost EUR 40 billion. This is a really big stock. There will be no shortage of food for Poles or refugees from Ukraine”, assured Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Henryk Kowalczyk.

Deputy Prime Minister Kowalczyk, referring to the situation in the food market, explained that “food products are the driving force for inflation, and prices have increased everywhere, all over the world”.

He pointed out that, for example, Great Britain is dealing with oil rationing. In terms of the Polish market, he said “It will probably be more difficult to buy sunflower oil as it came from Ukraine, but we have a lot of rapeseed oil, and we will use it.  There is no threat that the oil will run out; the only problem is, unfortunately, the price”, says Kowalczyk.

The head of the Ministry of Agriculture emphasized that the increase in prices was a consequence of the war in Ukraine.

The prices of energy and gas are soaring, and the prices of fertilizers are rising twice, and therefore the prices of cereals are triple high. And this entails an increase in the prices of flour products, such as bread, and pasta, but also products of animal origin, because the prices of fodder are rising. We are going through such an inevitable chain of consequences, currently”, said Deputy Prime Minister Kowalczyk.

In his opinion, forecasting the prices of food products in autumn is very difficult because it depends on many factors. He mentioned the course of the war in Ukraine and the potential threat of drought. Both of these factors may affect the volume of agricultural production and the prices of food products.

“Of course, I would not expect it to be cheaper but we would just try not to get more expensive”, said Deputy Prime Minister Kowalczyk.

Adrian Andrzejewski