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agricultural exports during the war. Work will be actively carried out to ensure logistics and necessary access for critical infrastructure to energy," he emphasized, adding: "There are relevant government decisions that guarantee that critical infrastructure for the agricultural sector can have access to the uninterrupted supply of electricity." At the same time, Ukraine's actual grain exports in the current season as of June 24 amount to 49.761 million tons, which is 2.8% or 1.337 million tons more than in the same period of the previous marketing year.
Ukraine's wheat exports to drop to 10-year low, US Agriculture
Department says. The authors linked this development to a drop in production and to Russia's disruption of Black Sea shipping lanes, which have traditionally been Ukraine's key export routes.
Unscrupulous Ukrainian enterprises illegally export grains abroad, as a result of which the country loses billions of hryvnia. This was stated by Deputy Prosecutor General of the state Dmitry Verbitsky. “This is really a problem. Because most of the grain comes illegally - foreign exchange earnings are not returned, taxes are not paid to the budget, and the country losesbns of hryvnia,” Verbitsky said on the Ukrainian channel “Unified News”. At the same time, the export of 40 containers of agricultural products that were bought in cash was recently prevented. Enterprises tried to evade taxes by 32mn hryvnia. Prosecutor Maxim Olef told United News that this case is not an isolated one and grain is illegally exported by truck, rail and sea.
Budapest not planning to lift ban on Ukrainian grain import, Hungarian FM says. The Hungarian government isn't planning on lifting its ban on Ukrainian grain imports, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on June 6 while visiting St. Petersburg, Russia, for the International Economic Forum, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Ukraine will export some agricultural products to the EU under new rules.
Acting Minister of Agricultural Policy Taras Vysotskyi said that on June 5, updated rules for duty-free trade in agricultural products with the EU will come into effect and will be valid for one year. Quotas have been established for some agricultural products based on the average export rate for the second half of 2021 and 2022-2023. This applies to six types of products: sugar, eggs, poultry, corn, cereals, and honey. The 262,000-ton quota for the export of sugar to the EU has already been exhausted. The government has introduced a zero quota for sugar, which will be in effect until the end of the year. However, Ukrainian agricultural producers continue to export sugar to countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Britain. In 2023, about 60% of farm products have been exported to EU countries. In addition, laws will soon enter into force that ensure transparent and unhindered export mechanisms. The new changes will establish minimum prices for exporting grain, oil crops, nuts, and honey.
Duty-free trade with the EU and increased exports impeded the development of sugar exports. During the war, the area under sugar beet increased by almost 20%, which became a good diversification option for farmers who reoriented themselves from growing cereals to this crop. In 2020, 216,000 hectares of sugar beets were planted in Ukraine, but the country has allocated 250,000 hectares to this crop for two years.
Ukraine increased shellfish exports by 110%, with the EU buying the lion's share. In January-April 2024, Ukraine exported 329 tonnes of shellfish, which is 110% more than in the same period last year, said the State Customs Service. In monetary terms, the export of shellfish reached $931,000 (+120%).
66 UKRAINE Country Report July 2024 www.intellinews.com