Ukraine’s agricultural sector is both export-oriented and export-dependent

The Ukrainian agricultural sector is 60-70% export-oriented and at the same time dependent on exports – it is a reality that world consumption depends on Ukrainian agricultural exports.

This opinion was expressed by the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Taras Vysotsky.

“Indeed, from 60% to 70% of Ukrainian agricultural products are exported, so the Ukrainian agricultural sector is export-oriented. We can grow much more than the domestic market consumes. Therefore, the Ukrainian agricultural sector is export-dependent. The reality is also that world consumption depends on Ukrainian agricultural exports. So, this relationship is two-way,” he said at the online discussion “3 Years of the Great War: Current State and Prospects for the Restoration of Ukraine’s Agricultural Sector.”

Vysotsky recalled that in 2022, in the first months of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and until mid-2023, when the temporary “grain initiative” supported by the UN was canceled, when Ukrainian products were not on the international market, world food prices went up sharply.

He cited UN data, according to which food prices increased by an average of 35% in hard currencies — euros and US dollars — in the first half of 2022.

“Such inflation of 35% worldwide is too much. This means that in fact all countries in general had to pay more for food. If you look at Western countries, where the average cost of food costs is 7-10-12% or more, it increased to 10-15-80%. At the same time, in the countries of Africa and Southeast Asia, where the average costs are 50-60-70%, they have increased to 70-80-90%. In some places, food has become inaccessible,” the first deputy minister explained.

He added that this situation was a prerequisite for the emergence of the initiative of the President of Ukraine Grain from Ukraine, within the framework of which a lot of Ukrainian agricultural products were delivered to the countries of Africa and the Middle East. Currently, the situation with food prices in the world has normalized. In many ways, this happened thanks to the Ukrainian sea corridor.

“Ukrainian agriculture and international food security are interdependent. Unfortunately, this understanding came because of the terrible challenges of the war. But the whole world realized that Ukrainian agriculture cannot develop without exports. World food security cannot be guaranteed and stable without the contribution of Ukrainian agricultural production,” Vysotsky summed up.

Tags: agricultural products, Ukraine, export