The European Union’s decision to limit trade in agricultural products with Ukraine will inflict heavy losses on the Ukrainian economy, Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Vitaly Koval said at a meeting of the EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH) in Brussels on Monday, as reported by Ukrainian media, citing euractiv.com.
The measures approved by the EU last week will come into force on June 6 and will reverse the full trade liberalization introduced in 2022. The new rules will restore the 2017 tariff quotas on Ukrainian agricultural exports, but this policy will harm more than just the food industry, Koval said.
Agriculture accounts for 70% of Ukraine’s GDP. This means that returning to pre-crisis tariff quotas with the EU will cause losses of 2.8 billion to 3.5 billion euros for Ukraine in 2025, he said.
The goal is to agree on a long-term trade program with the EU by the end of July, Koval said.
In turn, Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski welcomed the restoration of the pre-crisis trade system with Ukraine.
Agricultural trade with Ukraine is an issue particularly relevant to Poland, as imports from Ukraine have caused unrest among farmers in recent years.
“These numbers are very favorable for us because these volumes are very low,” Siekierski told the press on the sidelines of the AGRIFISH meeting, referring to the limited volumes of Ukrainian agricultural exports allowed into the EU after June 6.
The upcoming negotiations would require “a certain dialogue,” and discussions on how much the agricultural market should be liberalized for Ukrainian goods also depend on the resolution of the crisis, he said.
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