Ukraine terminated economic dependence on Russia in agricultural sector

As Oleksii Pavlenko, the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, wrote in his piece for the information portal “Obozrevatel”, by virtue of competent, prompt and reasonable measures, Ukraine was able to effectively resist the Russian trade war in food products. 

According to the Minister, the Ministry of Agricultural Policy has played the guiding role in this process, and managed, in a short time, to establish a network of contacts with international partners and to ensure that our manufacturers faced as easy and as transparent mechanisms for export activities as possible.

“We tried to use the pressure on the part of Russia as an additional impetus for redirecting business activities of Ukrainian agricultural producers to other, more reliable and promising markets. The Ministry has made every effort to help domestic farmers to develop new markets for their products and to adapt to the new conditions. Today, we can responsibly admit that we have achieved this goal, and the economic dependence of Ukraine on Russia in the agricultural sector has almost been completely overcome,” the Minister stressed.

“The diversification of markets through the expansion of exports has enabled the agricultural sector of Ukraine to redirect with relatively small losses from mostly undemanding Russian consumers. This market has never been motivating our producers to increase the quality standards of their products,” the Minister noted.

For instance, the European Union has become one of the largest consumers of Ukrainian agricultural products, with the share of 31.2% in the total structure of the Ukrainian foreign trade turnover in agricultural products at the conclusion of 11 months of 2015. Moreover, since January 1^st of the current year, when the Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU has entered into force, the trend towards the intensification of trade relations between the parties is observed.

“In just one week of the new year, Ukrainian exporters have received about a thousand certificates that give the right to export goods to the EU. This evidences the recognized quality of Ukrainian goods in Europe and the successful start of the FTA,” Minister Oleksii Pavlenko added. 

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