Ukrainian agricultural exports to EU grow to $2.3 bln – agriculture ministry

Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine on European Integration Olga Trofimtseva says Ukraine exported agrarian and food products to the EU markets worth $2.3 billion in January-May 2018, which is $13 million more year-over-year (y-o-y).

"In January-May 2018, foreign trade turnover between Ukraine and European Union states increased by almost 7.8% y-o-y, amounting to almost $3.4 billion, of which $2.3 billion was the exports of Ukrainian agrarian and food products to the EU markets," Trofimtseva said.

The ministry also said the surplus in bilateral trade over the said period amounted to $1.1 billion.

Read alsoUkraine may annually harvest up to 100 mln tonnes of grain by 2022 – expert

"Over the five months of 2018, we saw an increase in our agricultural exports to EU countries by almost $13 million compared with the same period in 2017. The largest share in the structure of agriculture exports to the EU was cereals, exported to the amount of almost $862 million, oil at $465.8 million, residues and wastes from the food industry at $220 million, oilseeds at $211.5 million, and meat and edible offal of poultry at $100.5 million," she said.

She added that during this time, the exports of Ukrainian processed and niche agricultural products to the EU markets have also increased significantly. In particular, exports of juices has significantly increased – by $11 million, or almost twice, confectionery products made from sugar – by $8.3 million, or by 89.4%, chocolate and other products with a cocoa content – by $6.5% million (by 66.2%); dried beans – by $6.5 million (2.4 times), eggs without eggshells and egg yolks – by $6.1 million.