In the first half of 2024, agricultural trade between Ukraine and the European Union increased by $ 0.4 billion, or 5%, compared to the same period last year, reaching $ 8.2 billion. This was reported by Deputy Director of the National Research Center “Institute of Agrarian Economics”, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences Mykola Pugachev, UNN reports.
In January-June 2024, the turnover of agricultural trade between Ukraine and the European Union increased by USD 0.4 billion compared to last year's figures for the same period. USD (+5%) and reached 8.2 billion USD. US DOLLARS
He also noted that Ukraine's trade surplus remained at USD 4.3 billion, thanks to a simultaneous increase in exports and imports of USD 0.2 billion each.
The main trading partners of Ukraine in the segment of agricultural products among the countries of this regional association are Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Romania and France
As of June 2024, the EU extended for the third time the preferential regime for Ukraine introduced in 2022, which provides for the elimination of duties, quotas and other trade restrictions on Ukrainian products. However, there are adjusting volumes for some products, such as poultry, eggs, honey, cereals, corn, oats, and sugar, which will be re-imposed after exceeding them. As of mid-July, duties on oats, eggs, and sugar have already been applied, and honey exports are approaching the limit of 44.4 thousand tons per year.
In the first half of 2024, there were no significant changes in the volume and structure of foreign trade with the EU, but in the second half of the year, additional uncertainties emerge. These include the potential imposition of duties, as well as growing competition with countries outside the European Union. The situation should be finally resolved over the next 2-3 months. Despite this, the EU countries remain our main regional partners in agricultural trade and food procurement, summarized Mr. Pugachev.
Recall
Ukraine exports about 80% of its products by sea, reaching pre-war levels. Since the beginning of the marketing year, grain exports have increased by more than 50% year-on-year, reaching 3.44 million tons.