The agrarians calculated the expecditures from the new EU decision regarding Ukrainian agricultural products

Ukraine’s losses due to the introduction of a new protective mechanism of the European Union aimed at Ukrainian agricultural exports may exceed €300 million.

Oleksandra Avramenko, the head of the European integration committee of the “Ukrainian Club of Agrarian Business” association, shared the forecast in an interview with Ukrinform. Avramenko reminded that the representatives of the European Union countries proposed to strengthen protective measures from June 6. In addition, last week the EU adopted a preliminary decision to suspend import duties and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural exports for another year.

The EU has provided for the possibility of quotas for oats, corn, groats, and other agricultural products. The European Commission will be obliged to introduce tariff quotas if the import of these goods into the EU exceeds the average volume of supplies in the second half of 2021 and throughout 2022 and 2023. Europe will also strengthen control over the import of Ukrainian wheat.

“This decision is currently not finalized. In order for it to enter into force, voting in the European Parliament and approval by the Council of Ministers of the EU must still take place. But, most likely, this will be the final version of the regulation, none of its provisions will obviously be revised,” Avramenko believes.

Therefore, starting from June 6, the European Commission will be able, if necessary, to return quotas for barrier duties on the mentioned types of Ukrainian agricultural products. Because of this, according to UKAB’s calculations, Ukraine may lose approximately €315 million. According to the calculations of the European Commission, it will be about €330 million. The final amount will depend on prices on the European market.

“I note that we are not talking about the losses of agricultural companies, but about the unearned currency revenue for the economy of Ukraine. Due to the limitation of supplies to EU markets, Ukrainian manufacturers will have to look for other sales markets, which makes logistics more expensive. The margin of supplies will also decrease,” the expert clarified.

Earlier, UCAB also reported that the terms of return of the foreign exchange of agrarians may be doubled.