Flour millers call for a separate quota for Ukrainian flour exports to the EU or for its removal altogether

Ukrainian flour and groats producers are concerned about the reduction in supplies of flour products to the European Union after the end of the autonomous trade measures on June 6, since 75% of their exports are currently to the European Union. This was reported by Rodion Rybchinsky, director of the Flour Mills of Ukraine union.

“Starting from June 6, we have the opportunity to supply a total of 583.3 thousand tons of wheat and wheat flour to the EU market by the end of the year. But since the quota is unified, I am not sure that we will “crush” into it. It is much easier for wheat grain exporters to find a buyer in the EU and close the quota,” Rybchinsky said.

He added that the specialized association continues to convey information to European officials through all possible communication platforms about the need to allocate a separate quota for Ukrainian flour for export to the EU or to remove it altogether.

Rybchinsky stated that before the war, 678 enterprises specializing in grain processing operated in Ukraine, but in 2022, 192 enterprises were destroyed and remained in the occupied territories. As of the end of 2024, 88 enterprises had been restored.

At the same time, the export of flour and cereals has decreased by 50% since the beginning of the full-scale war. Among the reasons, Rybchinsky named, in addition to the reduction in production, a change in logistics: if previously exports were carried out mainly by sea, then since the beginning of the war they have been forced to reorient themselves to road and rail transport, which are more expensive than sea transport.

Due to problems with transporting products across the Black Sea, container transportation has not yet been fully restored. Therefore, the geography of sales of grain processing products has changed significantly from the beginning: 75% of products enter the European market, of which 55% go to EU countries, 15% of products go to the Middle East, 4% to Africa, and 2% to Asia.

Earlier, First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky said that one of the government’s strategies in negotiations with the European Commission will be to request the division of established quotas by commodity codes.

Tags: Ukraine, export, EU, flour, restrictions