Separate EU quota for Ukrainian flour gives millers long-term planning certainty

The flour milling business of Ukraine has received the opportunity for long-term planning thanks to a separate tariff quota for the export of 30 thousand tons of Ukrainian flour to the EU, which was first granted in 2025. This was stated by the director of the Flour Mills of Ukraine Union, Rodion Rybchinsky, at the XVII international conference “Doing Agribusiness in Ukraine”.

According to him, export-oriented enterprises have already invested about €17 million in modernization, “and now they understand that these investments will have prospects”.

Until 2022, flour was exported within the framework of a joint quota with wheat, which made deliveries practically impossible. Only after the opening of trade preferences in 2022 did Ukrainian flour begin to actively enter the EU market, and already in 2023 exports reached 73 thousand tons.

“These volumes became an argument in the negotiations: if 73 thousand tons are successfully delivered to the EU, the question of the non-compliance of Ukrainian flour with European quality requirements disappears,” explained the head of the Union.

Rybchinsky noted that Ukrainian flour is purchased by Germany, the Czech Republic, Spain and Italy. In total, about 26 thousand tons were exported to the EU in 11 months of 2025, so it is expected that Ukrainian producers will fully use the provided quota.

The next revision of quotas is scheduled for 2028, and this may open up additional opportunities for expanding the presence of Ukrainian flour in European markets.

Tags: Ukraine, export, EU, flour