BRUSSELS, May 30 (TASS) – The EU Council approved prohibitive tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus from July 1, Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis wrote in his X account.

"EU ministers agreed to hike tariffs on Russia/Belarus grain imports from July 1," he wrote.

At the same time, the EU Council said that the EU's prohibitive tariffs on grain from Russia and Belarus will not affect transit through EU ports to third countries. "These measures concern products originating in or exported directly or indirectly from the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus to the EU. They will not affect transit through the EU from both countries to other third countries," the EU Council said in a statement.

On March 22, the European Commission proposed to introduce "prohibitively high" grain tariffs. Valdis Dombrovskis at the time called it a de facto ban on the supply of grain, sunflower seeds, and animal feed from Russia and Belarus to the EU's internal market by setting tariffs so high as to make their import into the EU economically unviable.

According to a leaked European Commission document, the tariffs would cover wheat, maize, sunflower seeds and derivatives, as well as animal feed. The tariff could be as high as 95 euro per ton, or about 50% of the price of wheat on the European market (193 euro per ton as of March 15).