In Kyiv they are considering what to do with dairy products after the closure of the Russian market
Kyiv, April 22 (Navigator, Vladimir Mikhailov) - Ukrainian producers are considering what to do with dairy products after the closure of the Russian market - in order to obtain certification according to the standards of the European Union, the industry needs billions of hryvnias of investment.
Reorientation is possible towards the EU, but there are barriers - quality requirements, says economist Vladimir Konovalchuk.
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In order for Ukrainian milk to be competitive in European markets, many producers need to resolve the issue of quality.
The fact is that today Ukrainian milk processing plants purchase products from a very large number of suppliers. When reorienting to the EU market, they will have to significantly reduce the number of farms from which they purchase milk.
Opportunities to reorient to other markets are limited due to logistical problems, since milk has a short shelf life.
According to Anna Zharko, an expert at the Ukrainian Agricultural Business Club, it will not be possible to reorient to the domestic market, since the situation here is now difficult - the consumption of dairy products has fallen. Because of this, purchase prices for raw milk have collapsed - over the last 2-3 weeks they began to pay 20-30% less. Many producers say that they are ready to reduce their livestock because, due to low consumption and falling purchasing prices, they are incurring losses due to fattening livestock. Enterprises do not know how to get out of this situation.
It is impossible for the Ukrainian dairy industry to abandon the CIS market without large losses. “Our milk will not enter the EU market due to very expensive certification,” says expert Vsevolod Stepanchuk. According to his estimates, billions of euros will be required to certify the products of the entire Ukrainian dairy industry in accordance with EU requirements. “It’s ridiculous to expect that our cheese will be bought in Switzerland,” he says.
According to Zharko, in addition to dairy farmers, the meat industry will also suffer losses, although to a lesser extent. It should be noted that in Ukraine there is not enough meat produced even for the domestic market, so export losses can be replaced quite easily.
Kyiv is considering what to do with dairy products after the closure of the Russian market.