The volume of Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU decreased
11 February 12:47
In 2023, the volume of exports of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU decreased by almost 4%. This was announced by Mykola Pugachev, Deputy Director of the Institute of Agrarian Economics, reports
According to the expert, in 2023 Ukraine supplied agricultural products to the EU for USD 12.6 billion, which is USD 500 million or 3.8% less than in 2022. However, 2022 was a record year in history, and last year was the second best in terms of this indicator.
Grains and oilseeds, oils and fats, as well as residues of the processing industry accounted for 82% of exports to the EU. For example, 93% of imported honey to the EU, 92% of imported egg products, and more than half of imported poultry meat were Ukrainian.
Preferential trade regime
At the end of January, the European Commission extended the special preferential trade regime with Ukraine for a year, but imposed special conditions and safeguards for certain goods. This was done under pressure from some EU countries and to protect farmers in those countries.
Thus, the current regime actually provides for the return of quotas for some goods. In particular, in order to “stabilise imports at the level of average volumes in 2022-2023”, the EU has come up with an “emergency braking” mechanism for three products: poultry, eggs and sugar. These are the products that are actively sold in the EU. In practice, this means setting a quota at the level of the average export volume in 2022-2023, exceeding which will automatically result in an import tariff being applied to the products.