Ukraine may lose up to €600M by year end due to agri-exports ban - expert

Ukraine may lose up to EUR 600 million by the end of 2023 if some EU countries extend restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products.

Denys Marchuk, deputy chairman of Ukrainian Agrarian Council stated this during a briefing at Ukraine Media Center – Ukrinform.

"Every month, not being able to import to these five countries (EU members that have imposed an import embargo - ed.), we lost about EUR 170 million. Now, if we continue to lose, we will lose about EUR 600 million by the end of the year," he said.

Marchuk noted that despite such a large amount of losses, the key for Ukraine is to maintain transit through the territories of neighboring countries. According to him, after the export ban was imposed in May 2023, problems with the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products began to arise.

The expert emphasized that transit is very important for Ukrainian agricultural exports, as Ukraine mainly supplies food to third countries, transporting it through the territory of neighboring countries.

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As Ukrinform reported, in May 2023, the European Commission (EC) banned imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania at the insistence of these countries. On June 5, the ban was extended until September 15, 2023.

On September 15, the EC announced that the EU would not extend temporary restrictions on Ukrainian grain. Following this, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia announced their decision to unilaterally block imports of Ukrainian agri-products.

On September 18, First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said that Ukraine had requested consultations with Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary within the WTO.

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On September 19, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy reported that the Cabinet of Ministers approved a new procedure for exporting corn, rapeseed, sunflower, and wheat, according to which a license from the Ministry of Economy is required in coordination with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy to supply these crops to five EU member states bordering Ukraine.