Controversial Multinational agrochemical company Monsanto has today announced plans to move into Eastern Europe, capitalising on the growing popularity of maize in the region. The company today named Eastern Europe as one of its two principal ‘emerging market opportunities’ after maize areas reached record highs this year.

Monsanto said that Eastern Europe in particular, which has massive geographic potential, but lower yields compared to Western Europe, where more advanced agronomic practices have resulted in crops yielding twice as high. However, the company would not speculate further on ways in which it would move into Eastern and Central Europe.

The news comes just days after The European Food Safety Authority rejected France’s second ban of Monsanto’s MON810 maize, the European Union’s only licensed genetically modified crop. The agchem giant has been involved in a prolonged spat with the French government over its maize.

Following France’s first ban in 2008, cables obtained by Wikileaks revealed the company had help from American diplomats in promoting its products in Europe; US Ambassador Craig Stapleton suggested "we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU" in response to France’s initial ban of the GM maize. Although the company has exerted pressure on European nations to accept its genetically modified crops in the past, including France and Italy, where public sentiment is vehemently anti-GM, MON810 is currently banned in seven EU states.

Current US Department of Agriculture estimates put the Ukraine second globally in rankings of maize exporters; the country is forecast to export 14 million tonnes of the crop this year and Ukrainian government figures suggest maize plantings increased by one million hectares this year.

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