"This year, farmers will not have free space for a part of the harvest. Our estimates stand at about almost a million tonnes of grain. There are about two million more tonnes in storage facilities from last year's harvest that had not been sold," Pycha was quoted as saying by national news agency.
The Czech Statistical Office data showed that the prices on plant crops in the republic had dropped by 24.4% from 8,325 korunas ($382) to 5,767 korunas per 1 tonne of grain year-on-year, according to the report.
In late March, the prime ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia published a joint open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, calling for measures to counteract the negative effects of the increased imports of Ukrainian grain.
On April 15, Poland, together with Hungary, banned imports of Ukrainian agricultural products until June 30, citing the need to protect domestic farmers from the uncontrolled influx of cheap grain. Slovakia followed suit on April 17 and Bulgaria on April 19.
On April 28, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia agreed with the European Commission's proposition to lift national restrictions on Ukrainian import of grains and crops. In turn, the commission pledged to provide 100 million euros ($109 million) of financial aid for these countries' farmers.