Ukraine remains among three largest suppliers of agri-products to EU

Despite Russian war of aggression, as of November 2023, Ukraine remains the third largest supplier of agricultural products to the EU, behind only Brazil and the United Kingdom.

According to Ukrinform, this is stated in the European Commission's report on agricultural trade as of November this year. The full text of the document is published on the website of this institution.

Imports to the EU grew to a monthly rate of 5% in August 2023, reaching €12.5 billion, which is 15% less than in August 2022. At the same time, total imports in the period from January to August 2023 reached €107.4 billion, which showed only a slight decrease compared to the same period in 2022 (-3%, or -€3 billion)... The top countries of origin of imports for the EU in the period from January to August 2023 include three countries - Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine, the report says.

As noted in the text of the report itself, Ukraine was in third place in terms of agricultural supplies to the EU with an absolute value of €8 billion since January of this year. The total volume of European imports from Ukraine from January to August remained 23%, or 1.5 billion, higher than in the same period in 2022. Since June of this year, the monthly figures for the supply of agricultural products from Ukraine have slowed down slightly.

In terms of European exports, Ukraine ranks 14th among the most important consumers of European agricultural products, with €2.5 billion in January-August 2023. Last year, during the same period, Ukraine imported €1.8 billion worth of agri-products from the EU, so in absolute terms, the increase in this indicator amounted to €385 million, or 21%.

As reported, after the outbreak of Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the military blockade of Ukrainian ports, the EU launched so-called solidarity lanes on its borders with Ukraine to transport Ukrainian agri-products, primarily grain, to foreign markets by land.

Five neighboring countries - Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania - have reported destabilization of domestic agricultural markets as a result of the reorientation of Ukrainian grain exports.

On April 28, the European Commission agreed with four of Ukraine's neighboring countries - Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia - on a package of measures to be implemented after the countries lifted their unilateral actions against agri-imports from Ukraine. The package restricted imports of four key products from Ukraine - wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds - into the territory of these countries, as well as Romania, although it did not restrict the transit of such goods to other EU countries and the world market.

These temporary measures restricting imports of Ukrainian grain to the five EU countries expired on September 15, 2023. Nevertheless, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary imposed a unilateral ban on Ukrainian food on their markets.