Economy

+$9 billion: Ukraine sets a new record in trade with the EU

In 2024, a historic achievement in trade relations between Ukraine and the European Union in the field of agriculture took place. The total volume of mutual trade in agricultural products reached a maximum of almost USD 17 billion. These data were shared by Mykola Pugachev, academician of the National Academy of Sciences and deputy director of the Institute of Agrarian Economics, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.

This achievement surpassed the previous record of 2022 by 3%. Back then, the trade volume amounted to $16.5 billion. It is important to note that the trade balance turned out to be favorable for Ukraine, with a surplus of approximately USD 9 billion.

The geography of trade with the EU is concentrated around eight key partners, which together account for 80% of the total trade turnover of agri-food products. This group includes:

• Spain;
• Poland
• The Netherlands;
• Germany;
• Italy;
• Romania;
• France;
• Belgium.

As for imports, Ukraine purchased about $4 billion worth of agricultural products from the EU, the academician says. This reflects an increase of almost 9% compared to 2023. The structure of imports was quite diverse, with several dominant categories:

• various beverages – 484 million USD;
• food products, extracts and concentrates – USD 405 million
• tobacco products – USD 385 million;
• animal feed, residues and waste – USD 356 million;
• cocoa and chocolate products – USD 289 million;
• dairy products – USD 277 million (including cheese – USD 225 million);
• finished grain products – USD 258 million.

In addition, special attention should be paid to dairy products, whose imports increased by 8% compared to 2023, accounting for 7% of total imports from the EU. It is noteworthy that the majority of these imports (USD 225 million) are of various cheeses.

Overall, the above groups of products account for 61% of the total value of imported food from the European Union. The EU remains a key supplier of agri-food products to Ukraine, providing the domestic market with a wide range of goods produced and distributed by the member states.

These statistics underscore Ukraine’s deep integration into the European agricultural market and demonstrate the resilience of trade ties even in a challenging geopolitical environment.

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“Facilitated trade regime” with the EU

At the same time, Ukraine’s trade with the EU is not going too smoothly, despite record-breaking figures and the existence of a simplified trade regime.

The decision to allow the free import of Ukrainian goods into the EU was made by the EU at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion as a gesture of support for the Ukrainian economy and in response to the Russian naval blockade of Ukrainian ports. During the two years of its operation, the simplified regime has gained a lot of opponents in the European Union. In particular, the governments of Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia demanded to restrict imports of Ukrainian products (later France joined this position). They claim that cheap agricultural products from Ukraine are swallowing up their markets.

Six major European farmers’ associations also protested strongly against Ukrainian products. Polish farmers have even organized a border blockade, not only with Ukraine but also with Germany.

Nevertheless, after fierce debate, the simplified trade regime with Ukraine was extended until June 5, 2025. However, at the request of these countries, it was severely restricted.

Thus, the provisions on duty-free trade were amended to include new “safeguards” to protect European producers.

In particular, the European Commission may take any measures it deems necessary if imports from Ukraine cause “significant disturbances” on the EU market or the markets of one or more EU Member States. In this case, the European Commission may launch an “emergency brake” for particularly sensitive agricultural products. This list includes the following products:

• poultry
• eggs
• sugar
• oats
• cereals
• corn;
• honey.

However, the European Commission has not only options but also responsibilities. If imports of these goods exceed the average import volumes recorded in the second half of 2021 and for the entirety of 2022 and 2023, customs tariffs must be restored within 14 days.

Thus, the EU has practically returned import quotas for many Ukrainian goods, albeit at a rather high level.

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