EU accounts for almost half of agri-food supplies to Ukraine in 2017 – expert

The European Union remains a major supplier of agricultural products to Ukraine for the second year in a row, accounting for 48.9% of the country's agri-food imports in 2017.

Shipments in monetary terms from Europe increased to US$2.27 billion in 2017, from $1.94 billion in 2016, the press center of the National Scientific Center "Institute of Agrarian Economy" said.

Read alsoUkrainian apple exports to Europe soar by nine times since July 1Ukraine bought farm produce mainly in Poland ($457 million), Germany ($445 million), Turkey ($301 million), France ($209 million), Italy ($198 million), the United States ($194 million), the Netherlands and Indonesia ($176 million each), Norway ($149 million), and Spain ($128 million).

The said countries accounted for over 52% of Ukraine's total agri-food imports in monetary terms.

The share of agri-imports from the Asian countries was 20.2%, or $941 million. Imports from Latin America stood at $391 million (8.4%), while those from Africa at $237 million (5.1%).

Supplies from the CIS countries shrank by 5.4% from 2016, to $157 million (3.4% of total agri-food imports).

"In 2017, fruit, mainly citrus ones, bananas, and nuts traditionally accounted for the lion's share of Ukraine's food product imports, which was namely $477 million, in monetary terms," the report said.

Fish and crustacean imports, where frozen fish prevailed, ranked second, totaling $455 million (almost 11% up against 2016).

Tobacco imports worth $403 million ranked third in 2017.

Read alsoUkraine's revenue from farm produce exports grows to almost US$18 bln in 2017Oilseeds imports (mainly sunflower seeds) totaled $309 million, while those of coffee and tea stood at $194 million, as well as ethyl alcohol at $182 million.

As UNIAN reported earlier, according to report by the European Commission, Ukraine's agri-food imports from the EU over the past year rose in monetary terms by 16%, or EUR 250 million, to EUR 1.8 billion.

Revenue from agri-food exports from Ukraine to the European Union countries in 2017 increased by 27%, or EUR 1.2 billion, against 2016, to EUR 5.52 billion, the report said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the total revenue from exports of Ukrainian agrarian products in 2017 rose by 16.3% against 2016, to over $17.9 billion. The major staples of Ukrainian agri-exports to the EU market in 2017 were grain crops, accounting for 36.2% of the export structure, vegetable oils (25.1%), and oilseeds (11.3%.).