The government is updating the export strategy for agricultural products

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine together with the Ministry of Economy and international experts are developing a new export strategy for the Ukrainian agricultural sector. As Vitaly Koval, head of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, emphasized in an interview with "LigaZakon", the new approaches concern adaptation to EU standards. After all, Ukrainian manufacturers must adapt their products to EU requirements and standards in order to ensure access to the European market. In addition, there will be a reorientation of sales markets, so it is important to find new sales markets and expand the geography of exports in advance.

Attention is also paid to business support, which is why the government program "Made in Ukraine" is aimed at supporting Ukrainian manufacturers and strengthening their competitiveness on international markets. The development of value-added products is also important, since changing the structure of exports in favor of products with a higher added value will help increase revenues.

In general, according to the minister, Ukraine should actively move to a value-added economy model by opening processing plants, which will increase the value of Ukrainian agricultural exports. Therefore, he urged all those engaged in crop cultivation and trading to move to a value-added economy model. According to him, having the average price of agricultural exports last year at USD 309 per one ton of export and comparing this indicator with Poland (USD 1,560) or Italy (USD 2,670), it can be concluded that a model of poor raw material economy is functioning in Ukraine. Therefore, the country needs to process raw materials so that the products have added value. Today, it is possible to do this with the support of the state, in particular, to obtain loans from various institutions.

"It is important to understand that the era of exporting cheap products abroad is coming to an end, as logistics costs are increasing, competition is greater. Therefore, our product must be made highly competitive. This should be done without delay," emphasized the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.

The government is also working on expanding bilateral trade and diversifying the export of products of various categories, including livestock products. As of December 4, 2024, 166 companies have permits to export from Ukraine to the EU. Dairy products were exported by 60 companies: 8 ice cream manufacturers and 52 enterprises producing raw milk, dairy products, ice cream and ice cream-based products. 15 enterprises were engaged in the export of poultry and rabbit meat, and more than 20 companies were engaged in the export of meat products and semi-finished products. 21 enterprises exported honey and other beekeeping products, and 17 factories exported animal feed.