Ukraine wants to strengthen “Lanes of Solidarity” by restricting maritime exports

Taras Vysotskyi and Christoph Hansen discussed support for Ukrainian farmers and integration into the EU agricultural policy.

This was reported by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.  

Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Taras Vysotskyi held a meeting with European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Christoph Hansen in Brussels. On the part of the European Commission, the Director General of the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) Elisabeth Werner also participated in the meeting.

The parties discussed the situation in the Ukrainian agricultural sector, export logistics, access of producers to financing and the EU market, as well as Ukraine’s preparation for membership in the European Union.

Taras Vysotskyi stressed that restrictions on sea exports and the high cost of alternative logistics directly affect farmers’ incomes and their ability to finance the next production cycle. Ukraine is interested in further developing additional routes of the Lanes of Solidarity and mechanisms to support such logistics.

“Today, it is fundamentally important for us to maintain the ability of Ukrainian agriculture to produce. Problems with exports very quickly turn into a liquidity problem. If a producer cannot sell products at an economically justified price, he has fewer resources for the next sowing season,” said Vysotskyi.

The parties also discussed the access of Ukrainian agri-food products to the EU market. Ukraine proposes to simplify the administration of certain tariff quotas, in particular for flour and dairy products, as well as to consider more flexible mechanisms for bioethanol and native starch. The purpose of these proposals is to support Ukrainian processing and reduce the administrative and financial burden on business.

Particular attention was paid to Ukraine’s preparation for EU membership within the framework of negotiation Chapters 11 “Agriculture and Rural Development”, 12 “Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Policy” and 13 “Fisheries and Aquaculture”. Ukraine is working on the creation of a Paying Agency, the development of an agricultural support administration system, the adaptation of the state control system and the digitalization of fisheries.

 Earlier, USM reported that alternative logistics of Ukrainian grain through Baltic ports were discussed in Brussels.