Pork exports from Ukraine plunge by 88.3% in 2016

Meanwhile, pork imports into Ukraine in 2016 fell by 24.3%, to 2,800 tonnes, while imports in monetary terms declined by 48.1%, to $4.2 million.

At the same time, the SFS reported a 48.9% increase in exports of poultry and by-products from Ukraine for the reporting period, to 240,200 tonnes, while shipments onto foreign markets in monetary terms grew by 29%, to $292.5 million.

Read alsoEU bans imports of Ukrainian poultry due to bird fluShipments of these products from abroad totaled 83,300 tonnes last year, which was 35.9% up on 2015. Imports of poultry and by-products in monetary terms decreased by 8.3%, to $34.3 million.

According to the SFS, Ukraine nearly tripled pork exports in 2015, to 27,200 tonnes, while imports shrank by more than 87.5%, to 3,700 tonnes. During the period under review, poultry exports decreased by 7.7%, to 161,300 tonnes, while imports climbed by 0.4%, to 61,250 tonnes.

Read alsoMoldova bans pork imports from UkraineAs UNIAN reported earlier, the State Statistics Service reported 7.14 million pigs in Ukraine as of December 1, 2016, which was 5.6% down on the same date in 2015. The number of poultry during that period decreased by 4.1%, to 213.2 million head.

In 2016, Ukraine's biosecurity services recorded 89 outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF), a dangerous viral disease of animals. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nation estimates the losses of Ukraine's national budget due to ASF outbreaks in 2017 could exceed UAH 1.5 billion. What is more, the number of ASF outbreaks is expected to increase by 1.5 times, to 117 cases in 2017.

In addition, outbreaks of bird flu were reported in Kherson region in late November 2016, following which the EU restricted poultry imports from the entire territory of Ukraine. Hong Kong in turn limited egg imports from Ukraine. Previous bird flu outbreaks were registered in Ukraine's Crimea in 2008, there were four recorded cases.