Polish Farmers Want to Resume Trade With Russia, Cut Imports From Western Europe

WARSAW (Sputnik) - Several thousand farmers from different Polish regions are holding a rally outside the presidential palace in Warsaw, demanding that the government resume trade with Russia and limit imports of food products from Western Europe, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Wednesday.

Farmers demand repayment of various compensations, control over the imports of agricultural products as well as an increase of purchase prices. They are also angered by the absence of access to the Russian market.

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"When the Russian market was open, I was able to buy a new tractor from 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of potatoes, while now it is impossible," one of the farmers said.

Another farmer complained about the abundance of food products from Western Europe in Polish grocery stores.

"We produce high-quality meat while the Polish eat low-quality imported [meat]," he stressed.

In 2014, a number of Western states imposed sanctions on Moscow over its alleged involvement in Ukraine's domestic affairs and Crimea's reunification with Russia. In August 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree banning imports of some agriculture and food products from countries that adopted anti-Russia sanctions, including Poland.