Ukrainian agricultural products can beat Russia on world markets, says Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy
31.01.2025 - 15:33
Ukrainian farmers should not dump on foreign markets, but win global competition, demonstrating the quality of Ukrainian agricultural products.
This will allow Ukraine to defeat the aggressor country in the economic aspect, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Oksana Osmachko noted during the Grain Storage Forum in Kyiv, Interfax reports.
“The aggressor country is now a serious competitor for us (on foreign agricultural markets). But let’s look at it more pragmatically. Three years of war have taught us to adapt. And it is thanks to this that we will try to win economically,” Oksana Osmachko emphasized.
The Deputy Minister gave an example of Egypt’s grain purchases in the 2024/2025 season.
According to her, in October 2024, the Russian Grain Association entered the world market with an open communiqué and announced that it was refusing to cooperate with intermediaries and would sign direct contracts with 11 African countries.
“This allowed the Russian Federation to dump and conclude a billion-dollar contract. Subsequently, the aggressor country supplied extremely low-quality grain to Egypt under this contract. Egypt stores the purchased products in elevators. According to Egyptian laws, there should be a certain amount of grain in the state reserve, which guarantees the food security of citizens. Egypt expressed dissatisfaction with the supplier. Currently, the state has found itself in a difficult situation when it has to clean the elevators from spoiled products and provide the population with products,” Osmachko said.
The Deputy Minister noted that on Friday, the Minister of Agricultural Policy of Ukraine Vitaly Koval will fly on an official visit to Egypt. Its goal is to negotiate the terms of payment to Egypt for the grain it has supplied, which currently stands at 270 days.
As previously reported by USM, last year Ukraine’s foreign exchange earnings from agricultural exports amounted to $24.5 billion.
