Positive effect of agricultural cooperation to increase as Ukraine integrates into EU – minister

Ukraine does not pose a threat, we provide an opportunity to supply products that will strengthen the agricultural sector of Europe after Ukraine's accession to the European Union, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval said in a column on euractiv.com.

"The aid provided to Ukraine by its European partners is hard to overestimate. The autonomous trade preferences launched in 2022, as well as the European alternative export routes (i.e., the Solidarity Lanes for Ukrainian products), helped Ukraine's agri sector and economy survive in times of unprecedented threat," he said.

The minister said in the Ukrainian agricultural sector, labor productivity due to technology is 2.8 times higher than in the EU, where there are 53 full-time employees per 1,000 hectares, while in Ukraine there are 19 people.

In addition, the Ukrainian agricultural sector benefits from historical economies of scale, given the size of Ukraine's territory. According to FAOStat, in 2021, there were 2.65 hectares of arable land per person in Ukrainian rural areas, which is three times more than in the EU (0.83 hectares).

He expressed confidence that the European market will only benefit from cooperation with Ukrainian farmers. As arguments, the minister cited statistics according to which Polish agricultural exports in 2022 grew by more than 25% to a record EUR 47.5 billion, and poultry production increased by 7.5% thanks to Ukrainian grain. Hungary's agricultural exports increased by 23% to EUR 13.3 billion, Romania's by 25% to EUR 12 billion, and Bulgaria's by 37% to EUR 8.3 billion, mainly due to imports of Ukrainian oilseeds, including sunflower seeds.

In general, the five countries that initiated unilateral trade restrictions on the supply of Ukrainian agricultural products to their markets, the minister recalled, imported agricultural products from Ukraine worth EUR 7 billion in 2022, and their exports of agricultural products increased by EUR 18 billion.

"And when these countries claim that Ukrainian grain or other Ukrainian agri-food products adversely affect their markets, something does not match at all," the minister said.

In 2022, some EUR 857 million was spent on logistics for the export of Ukrainian agricultural products, while grain export costs rose to EUR 67 per tonne, which benefited EU logistics companies and contributed to an increase in tax revenues in the EU.

Koval drew attention to the fact that Ukraine is a major market for European goods. Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has imported production resources (or material and technical resources) for the agricultural sector in the amount of EUR 10 billion.

"The positive effects of agricultural cooperation will only increase as Ukraine integrates into the EU, strengthening food security, diversifying supply markets, and safeguarding against global risks like climate change," the Minister of Agrarian Policy said and expressed confidence that bread should become a weapon of peace, not war.