Despite the war, all Western traders have returned to Ukraine, attracting up to $15 billion for exports

All major traders, who annually attract up to $15 billion for the export of Ukrainian grain, have returned to Ukraine.

This was stated by the President of the Ukrainian Grain Association (UGA), Mykola Gorbachev, reports Interfax-Ukraine.

According to him, as of 2024-2925 MY, all major trading companies engaged in the export of grain and oilseeds have returned to Ukraine. These traders can attract large funds and lend for sowing and harvesting.

Gorbachev noted that many were worried that Western companies would leave the Ukrainian market because of the war, because it would become difficult to trade. For example, in order to export 50 million tons of grain, Western companies are attracting credit lines to Ukraine for about $15 billion.

The President of the UGA emphasized that Ukrainian companies would not be able to export grain on their own not so much because of technical aspects, but because of the lack of access to financial institutions and their credit lines. According to him, without large traders, Ukrainian agricultural producers would grow grain, but due to the lack of funds, it would be impossible to buy it.

Gorbachev explained that traders finance trade: most of these companies have existed for a hundred or more years, so banks have great trust in them and open credit lines to them. Such companies strengthen the Ukrainian economic component in agricultural production.

Before the full-scale war, in the structure of the trading market, large companies accounted for 90% of grain and oilseed exports, and the remaining 10% was supplied to foreign markets directly by agricultural producers, said the president of the UGA. At the same time, farmers independently exported mostly niche products, in particular flax and oatmeal. Their deliveries were carried out by road and rail, and shipments by sea were extremely rare.

Already during the full-scale invasion, a number of problems, in particular logistical ones, led to the exit of large exporters from the game. Today, the picture of traders on the Ukrainian market looks like this: about 70% of export volumes are large companies, and about 30% of manufacturers export directly.