On 24 May 2023, the third expert discussion for the dairy sector took place during which current opportunities and prospects of dairy export and some financial tools to support exporters were discussed.
Oleksandr Zhemoyda, Head of Department for Trade Agreements and Export Development, told about the prospects of entering new markets and current developments of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine within the trade agreements.
Mr. Zhemoyda noted that today the main task of the Ministry is to ensure equal conditions of cooperation and trade with other countries, regardless of the nature of interaction — whether these are negotiations, communication, or concluding the agreements. Several significant results have been achieved in this context.
Today Ukraine has a free trade zone with Montenegro. Moreover, a free trade agreement has been concluded with Macedonia, which is in the process of ratification and awaits entry into force. With Israel the preferential treatment is only for some positions of dairy products, and there are also quotas for some other positions beyond which there is also a preferential treatment or reduced duties, as well as zero duties. Similar differentiated approach will also be applied to the agreement with Turkey which has recently been signed. For more details about trade agreements visit the Ministry’s website.
Ukraine is in active negotiations with the UAE. The results of these negotiations are expected to be positive for dairy exporters from Ukraine. There are also negotiations with Tunisia, but at the early stage. In addition to the above achievements, it should be noted that the procedure of preparation to negotiations with Egypt and Jordan is completed. However, these countries have not showed their full readiness for negotiations and making agreements. As for Serbia, the negotiations are likely to last long as this is the only Balkan partner which is not in our agreements.
The Ministry is further considering the possibilities of cooperation with the North African, Mediterranean, as well as Balkan and North American countries. Ukraine has been given a mandate to start negotiations with the countries of the Pacific Partnership, in particular Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
In her speech Olga Gvozdyova, Advisor to the Entrepreneur and Export Promotion Office (EEPO), presented the overview of the EU dairy market and promising markets.
In 2022 Ukraine exported dairy products to 96 countries! Bulgaria, Romania and the UK are among the promising markets for increasing the dairy export from Ukraine. In 2022 the consumption of dairy products in Bulgaria reached USD 1,062 mln, in Romania – USD 2,303.7 mln, and in the UK – USD 21,221 mln. Learn more about the perspective products for export to these countries, trends on the dairy market, as well as the main players on the selected markets in the new study from the EEPO analysts. For the study follow the link.
Dmytro Unguryan, Head of Division for Accounting of Market Operators, Keeping Registers for State Control and Accounting of Market Operators, SSUFSCP, made the presentation on how to get a permit to export dairy products to the EU and the steps to be made to enter the Chinese market.
Mr. Unguryan also added that as of 24.05.2023 46 establishments (44 FBOs, including 7 ice-cream producers) have the right to export to the EU, 34 establishments — to the People’s Republic of China, and 29 — to the UK.
The representatives of business also took part in the event, for instance, Yuriy Shevchuk, Director for Dairy Business Development at Olam Food Ingredients Ukraine.
According to Mr. Shevchuk, in order to build a Ukrainian brand on the international commodity market one should follow three main principles: quality, balance between price and quality, and regular supplies. Unfortunately, not every Ukrainian producer is ready to follow these three main rules.
One of the main reasons why final consumers in Asia or Middle East are not willing to deal with Ukrainian products is related to irregular quality. For example, in one batch of milk powder one can find the products both of proper and poor quality. This pushes away potential partners, that’s why quality always has to be compliant with the national standards of the destination country and international standards.
In terms of price all our producers want to get a European price, but the perception of Ukrainian products in the world is that, as a rule, a discount is expected. The discount amount depends of different situations, but the main factor is the current market situation and prices.
In addition, the participants learnt about the existing EEPO tools for export support and promotion, as well as financial support tools for export activities from the Export Credit Agency, the details of which were provided by Ruslan Rokhov, Advisor to Export Credit Agency PrJS.
It should be noted that the series of events has taken place for the second consecutive year. This year events have been conducted to adapt and transform export opportunities of Ukrainian dairy producers during the war and in the context of deterioration of the global market situation in 2023, and are aimed at getting together dairy exporters, representatives of national and international business associations, traders, experts, and consultants.
For the results of the first and second meetings follow link 1 and link 2.
This series of events is conducted by the State Enterprise “Export and Entrepreneurship Promotion Office”, national project Diia.Business and analytical agency INFAGRO with support of Switzerland in the frame of the Swiss-Ukrainian Project “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sector in Ukraine” implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL, Switzerland) in partnership with SAFOSO AG (Switzerland).