Last Friday, June 6, the international agricultural forum Agro Ukraine Summit was held in Kyiv for the second year in a row.
The agricultural sector is the driving force of Ukraine’s economy, and the summit is an important platform for exchanging ideas, analyzing challenges, and developing strategies to increase productivity, sustainable development, and international trade in agricultural products with a focus on European integration.
This year’s summit was prepared as a large-scale event on the Ukrainian market with the broad involvement of European partners, international organizations, and companies with the aim of not only bringing together all key stakeholders in the agricultural and food sectors, but also creating a dynamic platform for inclusive national dialogue, cooperation, and growth.
One of the key achievements of the event was that, together with ProAgro Group, leading agricultural associations of Ukraine joined the organization, including the Ukrainian Grain Association, the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club, the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council, the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation, the Ukrkharcheprom industry association, the Ukrainian Bean and Soybean Association, the Ukrainian Dairy Association, the All-Ukrainian Farmers’ Congress, as well as Aggeek, Ukraine Facility Platform, the Solar Energy Association, and the Ukrainian-European Business Hub. Preparing for such a large-scale event really required the involvement of a large number of specialized organizations, which demonstrated through their example that the combined efforts of experts can yield remarkable results.
In addition, the summit was held with the active support of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine. The event was attended by Minister Vitaliy Koval and his deputies, as well as the heads and specialists of the ministry’s leading departments, who took an active part in the discussions and debates. And the former acting Minister of Agrarian Policy, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences Olga Trofimtseva, not only headed the summit’s program committee, but also became its co-host and moderator of several discussion panels.
The night of June 6 in Ukraine was once again restless due to massive attacks by Russian forces. The capital was again under fire, and in the morning, Kyiv residents and visitors to the city faced serious logistical problems, which prevented some participants of the Agro Ukraine Summit from arriving on time for its opening. However, the vast majority eventually made it to the Parkovy Exhibition Center, where the event was held, and within an hour more than 2,000 people had registered—a record number for an agricultural event in the country, not only during the war but also in peacetime.
The summit began with the Ukrainian national anthem, which is our unbreakable tradition, designed to show who we are, what country is in our hearts, and for whose prosperity we live, work, and fight. This was followed by a minute of silence to honor those who died in the war with Russian occupiers—this tribute to their memory has also become a tradition.
Oleg Klymenko, director of ProAgro Group, addressed the participants and guests of the Agro Ukraine Summit with a welcoming speech. Olga Trofimtseva officially opened the summit, emphasizing that the agricultural sector is the driving force of Ukraine’s economy and that the summit is an important platform for exchanging ideas, analyzing challenges, and developing strategies to improve the efficiency and sustainable development of Ukrainian agriculture as a guarantor of food security for the country and the world.
Pierre Bascu, Deputy Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture, sent his best wishes for fruitful work to the summit participants from Brussels. He emphasized the EU government’s unwavering support for Ukraine and its readiness to provide maximum assistance to Ukrainian agricultural producers on their path to European integration.
In addition to the main conference, summit participants had the opportunity to attend five industry conferences that ran throughout the day:
Due to the large number of conferences, we are unable to cover each one in a single publication, otherwise it would be a very long article. To summarize, each conference featured 6-7 thematic panels with over 140 speakers, each of whom spoke about the most important issues in their field, discussed with the audience, and answered questions from moderators and participants. You can watch recordings of all the speakers’ presentations on the official YouTube page of Proagro Information Company.
However, we will still focus on the main topic of the Agro Ukraine Summit. It was unintentional, but the summit took place on the second day after the expiry of the EU’s autonomous trade preferences with Ukraine. At the same time, agricultural products are one of Ukraine’s main exports, and thanks to the preferences introduced by the European Commission at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, agricultural exports to the EU have accounted for more than half of Ukraine’s total agricultural exports in recent years.
Is there life after the ATM, when exports to the EU will return to pre-war rules, along with their duties and quotas on a number of Ukrainian goods? This question was answered by Minister of Agrarian Policy Vitaliy Koval and his first deputy Taras Vysotsky, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Trade Representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka, Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olena Sotnyk, and the aforementioned representative of the EC Directorate-General for Agriculture Pierre Bascu. Arno Peti, Executive Director of the International Grains Council, Iliana Axiotia, Secretary General of the European Association of Agricultural Producers COCERAL, Mykola Gorbachev, President of the UGA, and Nazar Bobytsky, Head of the European Office of the UCA, also spoke on this issue.
Vitaliy Koval managed to partially calm the situation by announcing that work under the previous trade rules, already dubbed 7/12, would continue until the end of July. By that time, negotiations between the Ukrainian delegation and representatives of the European Commission should be completed, resulting in updated trade rules between Ukraine and the EU within the framework of the Association Agreement. They will not be as liberal as the ATM, but the Ukrainian side is currently making every effort to ensure that they are as fair as possible for Ukraine as an official candidate for EU membership and as a country waging a brutal war, defending not only itself but also the entire eastern flank of the European Union.
In a short interview at the Agro Ukraine Summit, Vitaliy Koval also answered several other questions, including those asked from the conference hall. One participant asked what the minister’s most ambitious goal for 2025 was. “My main goal is to lead Ukraine past the point of no return from a raw materials-based economy to an agro-industrial state and to see January 1, 2026, in a peaceful country where farmers have contributed to victory no less than anyone else,” he replied.
At each Agro Ukraine Summit conference, and indeed at each panel, there were topical issues, interesting questions, and answers. But perhaps the most were at the Agro Ukraine Expo, which was held as part of the summit and featured more than 110 companies with stands where they showcased their cutting-edge products and services for the agricultural industry, as well as the latest technologies and solutions.
The summit also featured two large lounge areas with comfortable places for networking. At times, it seemed that they were even more crowded than the conference rooms. But this is understandable, since one of the main values and advantages of such events is the opportunity for participants to meet, exchange business contacts, and conduct business negotiations. Therefore, at the Agro Ukraine Summit, we try to facilitate these opportunities as much as possible, including through a relaxed atmosphere, pleasant live music, and delicious refreshments. As one of the summit guests noted, “More contacts mean more contracts.” We couldn’t agree more, which is why we strive to achieve this.
The day of the summit ended on a high note with a performance by the National Academic Orchestra of Folk Instruments of Ukraine, which caused an explosion of emotions with its incredible sound and unique combination of traditional Ukrainian music and the most famous hits of the world stage, as well as an almost hour-long concert by Ukrainian singer Jamala, winner of Eurovision 2016.
It is also worth noting that this year’s Agro Ukraine Summit was the 200th anniversary conference for the organizing company, ProAgro Group. This means that, with over 2,000 participants at this year’s summit, the total number of people who have attended the company’s events over the past 20 years has reached 50,000!
To mark this event and thank all participants, ProAgro Group raffled off a certificate for an exhibition stand at the company’s next events. Five winners of the raffle also received a pass for free admission to all conferences over the next 20 years!
After all the celebrations, the director of ProAgro Group announced that next year’s event will no longer be called Agro Ukraine Summit, but Agro Ukraine Week, a multi-day event that aims to become not only the largest agricultural event in Ukraine, but also one of the leading events in Europe. Incidentally, this idea has already been approved and supported by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food. So, preparations are already underway!
Finally, ProAgro Group would like to express its sincere gratitude to the title partners of this year’s Agro Ukraine Summit – AgriGo, GRECO group, and VITAGRO; general partners – ERIDON and TOKMAK DIESEL; exclusive partners – A. TOM and VOLTAGE, as well as over 100 partner companies.
We would also like to thank all media outlets that became information partners of the Agro Ukraine Summit, led by the general media partner, the TV channel “MY – UKRAINE.” We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all journalists on their professional holiday, Journalist Day, which was celebrated in parallel with the summit on June 6.
Interfax-Ukraine is an information partner.
