On October 8, Brussels hosted a joint meeting of representatives of the Public Union “Ukrainian National Agrarian Forum” (UNAF) and the European association Copa-Cogeca on the topic “EU-Ukraine – building understanding on agricultural realities: focus on the sugar and poultry sectors”, which was attended by UNAF Director Mariia Didukh, Head of the European Integration Committee UCAB Oleksandra Avramenko, Head of the UCAB EU office Nazar Bobitski and representatives of other industry associations in Ukraine.

The meeting focused on the features of Ukrainian and European agro-industries with emphasis on: structure and features of the agro-sector, specifics of sugar and poultry production. The results of trade between Ukraine and the EU for the period 2022-2024 were also discussed.

Thus, Mariia Didukh presented to the European colleagues the structure of the agricultural sector of Ukraine, the peculiarities of land reform and the conditions in which Ukrainian agricultural producers operate: “The structure of the agricultural sector of Ukraine is in a state of dynamic development due to historical, economic and political factors. The legacy of the Soviet system, land market reform, war and external economic factors form a complex landscape where both micro, small and medium-sized farms with land bank of up to 100 hectares and large agricultural producers with land bank of several tens of thousands of hectares coexist. Each market segment finds its niche: large and medium-sized companies are engaged in mass production and exports, while small farmers can focus on organic products, niche crops or localized markets, creating added value and joining the value chain with the “big ones”. There is a growing trend of small and medium-sized agribusinesses, which in cooperation with others are becoming important players in the agricultural market”.

The speaker also noted the importance of the agricultural sector for the Ukrainian economy: “According to the results of 2023, agriculture provided 11.7% of the country's GDP, the agro-food sector generated 63% (22 billion USD) of foreign currency earnings from exports. Foreign partners provide various financial assistance to Ukraine, but the financing of the army is provided by our economy, and it is the agricultural sector that makes a significant contribution to this, because agricultural producers are one of the largest taxpayers to the national and local budgets.

In addition, in the absence of significant state support for rural development, agricultural producers undertake to finance a variety of initiatives to improve the infrastructure and quality of life in the village through voluntary “social taxes”. Thus, the social responsibility of Ukrainian agribusiness is substantial - $20-50 per hectare, and is reflected not only in the restoration of infrastructure, but also in the rent paid to millions of landowners”.

While discussing the volume of sugar and poultry products exported from Ukraine to the EU, the Head of the European Integration Committee UCAB Oleksandra Avramenko noted that according to the results of 2023 Ukraine was the third largest exporter of agri-food products to the EU, while the largest exporter to the EU is Brazil: “EU agro-producers are under pressure not so much from Ukrainian goods as from Brazilian ones. Accordingly, the future EU policy on imports of agri-food products should be based on the understanding that Ukraine, as a future member of the association, already complies with EU legislation and will fully adopt it in the future, while third countries are not obliged to adopt European law. Consequently, in the future Ukraine should become the EU's largest trading partner before becoming an official member of the association”.

“The joint event of Ukrainian agrarian associations with COPA COGECA was very important for maintaining a dialogue between agrarians from Europe and Ukraine, given the excessive politicization of the issue of Ukrainian agro-exports to the EU. We were again convinced that our European colleagues know very little about the evolution, current state and problems of the Ukrainian sector. As a consequence, stereotypes or outright misinformation about Ukrainian agribusiness and its products flourish. At the same time, the openness and great desire of European agro-associations to know more about us, as well as the realization of common strategic interests in the context of Ukraine's future membership in the EU are very encouraging. In turn, UCAB will encourage and support this dialog, its focus on specific sectoral issues in order to develop compromise solutions for access of Ukrainian agro-exports to the European market”, - summarized the results of the event Nazar Bobitski.