In 2020, Ukraine exported fruit and berry products worth $238 million, which is 8% less than a year earlier, and is associated with quarantine restrictions and complication of customs procedures at the borders, the Ukrainian Agricultural Export Association (UAEA) reported on Friday.
According to the association, 92% of total exports were frozen fruits and berries ($111 million), walnuts in shell and without shell ($ 98 million), as well as apples and pears ($10 million).
According to the association, in kind, the export of walnuts decreased 41.2%, to 39,000 tonnes, and apples and pears – 64.3%, to 19,000 tonnes, at the same time, the export of frozen fruits was the maximum for the period of independence of Ukraine reaching 55,000 tonnes.
The UAEA reported that sales of Ukrainian fruits, berries and nuts to the EU countries in 2020 provided 77% of the total revenue from these products. Most of these products were bought by Poland ($57.7 million), France ($19.7 million), Germany ($17.2 million), the Netherlands ($11.6 million), Italy ($11.5 million), Austria ($11.2 million), the Czech Republic ($9.6 million) and Greece ($9.5 million). Turkey ($10.5 million) and Belarus ($9.2 million) are other major trading partners.
The association said that the average price of Ukrainian apples in 2020 grew by 1.5 times, to $500 per tonne, frozen fruits and berries – by 13.6%, to $2,023 per tonne, and shelled walnuts – by 5.1%, to $3,000 per tonne.
TOP 20 countries of Ukraine’s foreign trade partners in Jan-Oct of 2020 (thousand USD).
Main trade partners of Ukraine in % from total volume (export from Ukraine to other countries) in Jan-Oct of 2020.
SSC of Ukraine
Main trade partners of Ukraine in % from total volume (import from other countries to Ukraine) in Jan-Oct.
SSC of Ukraine
Citizen of China Wang Jing and affiliated Beijing Xinwei Technology Group Co., Ltd; Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment Co., Ltd (both based in Beijing); Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Limited (the British Virgin Islands) and Hong Kong Skyrizon Holdings Limited (Hong Kong), which have been trying in recent years to realize the rights of PJSC Motor Sich shareholders in Ukraine, have been included in the sanctions list of Ukraine.
According to the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) and the decree of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky dated January 28 (No. 29), the sanctions imposed on them for three years provide, in particular, the blocking of assets, restriction of trade operations, partial or complete cessation of transit of resources, flights and transportation on the territory of Ukraine.
Other restrictions include preventing the withdrawal of capital from Ukraine, a complete ban on transactions with securities of which they are issuers, and a ban on the purchase of enterprises in Ukraine.
The list of sanctions also includes a ban on increasing the size of the charter capital of business entities in which the persons under sanctions own 10% or more, and the cancellation of official visits, meetings, negotiations on signing contracts or agreements.
Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, in October-December 2020 increased sugar sales by 33% compared to the same period in 2019, to 81,180 tonnes with a 37% increase in its price, to UAH 13,240 per tonne.
As the company reported on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, sales of corn increased by 17%, to 294,560 tonnes, with a price increase of 19%, to UAH 4,860 per tonne, while wheat fell 81.8%, to 6,640 tonnes with a 34% rise in price, to UAH 5,590 per tonne.
Sales of sunflower seeds in October-December 2020 decreased by 38%, to 31,710 tonnes, soybean oil by 20%, to 8,510 tonnes, and soybean meal decreased by 12%, to 39,380 tonnes. At the same time, all these products also significantly increased in price, in particular sunflower by 22%, to UAH 10,160 per tonne, soybean oil by 49%, to UAH 25,490 per tonne and soybean meal by 51%, to UAH 12,700 per tonne.
According to the company, sales of milk in the fourth quarter of 2020 increased by 2%, to 22,230 tonnes with a price increase of 10% to UAH 11,310 per tonne.
The multiplication of these indicators leads to a sales volume of UAH 3.834 billion, which is 28.6% more than in the fourth quarter of 2019, in particular sugar sales increased by 82.1%, to UAH 1.075 billion, corn by 39.4%, to UAH 1.430 billion.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 animals, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region (Globino Processing Plant LLC).
As reported, the net loss of Astarta in the first nine months of 2020 amounted to EUR 4.72 million versus EUR 1.93 million of net profit in the same period in 2019.
