The fruit and berry harvest in Ukraine this season could fall by 25% compared with the previous one due to unfavorable weather conditions, Chairman of the Ukrainian Association of Agrarian Export Dmytro Kroshka has said.
“The upcoming season will definitely become less fruitful compared to the previous one. We can see a 25% decline in production at industrial farms of pome, stone fruit and berry crops that are traditionally grown in Ukraine. Manufacturers complain of the rainy spring, dry summer, hail due to rapid temperature changes. There are still two months ahead, which, due to weather conditions, will be, like a lottery, for producers of pome crops,” he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Kroshka, the harvest of apples in Ukraine in the current season from industrial producers can fall by 30%.
“If in 2018 we collected 655,000 tonnes of apples of different quality and different varieties, today we expect a total harvest of 460,000 tonnes, which will definitely have an impact on the entire market and the production of derivative products,” the head of the association said.
In 2018, industrialists harvested 45,000 tonnes of stone fruit crops, this year the harvest could be about 38,000 tonnes.
“We expect a decline in the production of traditional berry crops in Ukraine due to weather and climatic conditions from 26,000 tonnes to 23,000 tonnes. At the same time, due to the start of fruiting of significant areas with blueberry, the production of this crop will be increased. Last year, we collected about 3,000 tonnes of this crop, this year we will reach 4,000 tonnes, which is significant for the Ukrainian market, and we predict that by the results of the next marketing year we will see export growth,” Kroshka said.
He said that it would be logical against this background to increase prices for the entire range of fruit and berry products made in Ukraine. The most tangible may be an increase in the price of apples, while the price of blueberries may remain stable or even decline. At the same time, the ratio of high and low quality of the harvested fruit and berry crops in the production structure remains unknown.
Kroshka also said that in the 2018/2019 season, Ukraine’s exports of apples increased 1.6 times, to 55,600 tonnes thanks to the demand for Ukrainian apples, at the same time, export of pears decreased 41%, to 434 tonnes.
Ukraine increased the export of walnut for this period by 45%, to 48,500 tonnes and this figure will continue to grow thanks to the entry into the fruiting of the nut trees, the area under which is expanding from year to year.
The head of the association said that a reduction in the export of stone fruit crops (cherry varieties, plums) is influenced by the lack of technology for presale preparation of products in terms of cooling, packaging of products. In addition, exports are constrained by undeveloped logistics for the supply of fresh stone fruit products.
“We have a serious drop in plum exports [from 8,000 tonnes to 133 tonnes]. This is due to the fact that the main market for Ukrainian plums was the EU, where last season local producers had large production volumes. Ukrainian producers were not able to compete with European and sold plums mainly in the domestic market,” Kroshka said.
According to him, the export of berry crops (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries) decreased in the season 2018/2019, which is due to the insufficient provision of presale preparation for fresh crops.
Ukrzaliznytsia jointly with Belarusian and Lithuanian railways has launched the Containerships Train new regular container train running across Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine.
Ukrzaliznytsia Board Chairman Yevhen Kravtsov wrote on his Facebook page that the train will run between Draugyste (Lithuania) and Brovary (Ukraine) twice a week.
“Last year can be called a “container boom” in Ukrzaliznytsia. The Containerships Train is our 22nd container train running in Ukraine. Competitive delivery speed regardless of weather conditions, regular trips, the understandable schedule. Add to this the decrease in logistics costs on average by 25%. The benefits are undeniable,” he said.
The head of Ukrzaliznytsia said that as part of the first Containerships Train with 65 containers will arrive at the Brovary station in 50 hours. The company plans to organize container transportation to the Odesa seaport.
“Draugyste is located near the port of Klaipeda. So this autumn we are planning another route – to the Odesa seaport. Considering the reorientation of domestic exports to the EU countries and the increase in cargoes addressed to seaports, container shipping will be useful,” Kravtsov said.
Kormotech LLC (Lviv region), a large Ukrainian manufacturer of cat and dog feed, has made the first shipments of cat feed under a private label to the UK and Finland.
According to the press service of the company, 19 tonnes of dry cat feed were delivered to the UK and 5,000 tonnes to Finland. The company plans to supply wet feed to Britain, which makes up 75% of the feed market in this country, and export products under its own trademark to these countries after obtaining the necessary certification.
“Northern Europe has a very developed market, and the largest share in this market belongs to super premium feeds. The UK is among the ten most powerful pet food markets in the world. Our goal is to enter the top 50 industry leaders in the world by 2023. Now our product exports account for about 15%, and we need to triple this figure to achieve our goal,” Ihor Paraniak, the production director of Kormotech, said.
The company planned in 2019 to make the first private label shipments to the UK and Finland, as well as to enter U.S. retail chains (now products are sold through Amazon in this country).
Kormotech exports products to over 20 countries, including France, Estonia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Poland.
Burisma Group has commissioned well No. 38 on Karaikozivske deposit and wells Nos. 5 and 7 on Vodianivske field, the press service of the company has reported.
“The depth of two of the three wells exceeds 6,000 meters, providing them with the status of one of the deepest not only in Burisma Group’s portfolio, but also among all the gas producing companies of Ukraine,” the report says.
For example, the depth of well No. 5 on Vodianivske field is 6,210 meters, well No. 7 is 6,520 meters, and wells on Karaikozivske deposit 5,250 meters. The daily production rate of the latter is 200,000 cubic meters of gas and 100,000 cubic meters of condensate.
“We expect even better results for each of the wells of Vodianivske field,” the press service said citing CEO of Burisma Group Taras Burdeiny.
Ukraine is ready for negotiations with the European Union to strengthen trade in 2020 and implement new opportunities, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman has reported.
“Today, we sell 43% of exports to the EU market. We have free trade area agreements. In 2018 we revised and increased the quotas (for export). There will be an opportunity to revise trade conditions in 2020 and we are working to expand the volume and “horizon” of trade. Every citizen will benefit from this. This is my priority,” Groysman said on the air of the Svoboda Slova program on ICTV.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed Valeriy Yevdokymov Deputy Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (FIS).
Corresponding decree was made public on the website of the president of Ukraine on Tuesday.
“To appoint Yevdokymov Valeriy Volodymyrovych as deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine,” the document says.
