Ukraine and China are working to open the Chinese market for Ukrainian peas, poultry, corn, and fish products, the press service of the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection reports.
“China is an important market for national exporters of agricultural products, so on behalf of the head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, Serhiy Tkachuk, the service and the competent authority of China continue to interact on a regular basis. Our goal is to open seven new markets. This is a long process of coordination, but step by step we are succeeding,” said Oleh Osiyan, First Deputy Head of the State Consumer Service, at a meeting with representatives of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC).
The parties discussed draft bilateral international agreements on the export of peas, wheat flour, pet food, beef, corn, poultry, and wild-caught aquatic products from Ukraine to China. Each of these documents is at a different stage of development and approval.
“Currently, the protocol on peas is at the stage of finalizing domestic approval in Ukraine, and the texts have been sent to the competent authority of China for consideration. This is one of the markets that is at the final stage of opening. After the signing of the bilateral protocol, new opportunities for pea exports will open up for Ukrainian agricultural businesses,” said Vadym Chaikovskyi, Deputy Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection and Chief State Phytosanitary Inspector of Ukraine.
It should be reminded that the last Ukrainian product to be granted access to the Chinese market was honey. The form of the health certificate for its export was agreed upon earlier this year.
The requirements of the countries of destination for the export of food products of animal and plant origin are published on the official web portal of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
“Currently, our Chinese colleagues are considering draft protocols on the export of poultry and fish. The State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection sent its proposals on the text of the protocol in the fall. The protocol on wild-caught aquatic products has already passed domestic approval and is at the stage of final approval by the Chinese side. The texts of the protocols on beef and pet food are also undergoing the stage of internal approval,” said Volodymyr Kusturov, Deputy Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection and Chief State Veterinary Inspector of Ukraine.
Representatives of the State Food and Consumer Service and the GACC discussed in detail the steps for further cooperation, draft bilateral agreements, and agreed to continue active cooperation on the development of international trade between Ukraine and China.
Hourly power outage schedules may start as early as next week with a significant drop in temperature, predicts Volodymyr Velychko, a member of the Supervisory Board of PJSC Centrenergo.
“Forecasters predict a significant drop in temperature starting next week. For power engineers, this means that more substantial measures will have to be taken to balance the power system, such as emergency assistance from operators in neighboring countries. However, before using emergency assistance, it is necessary to maximize the use of own resources. If NPC Ukrenergo fails to maintain the balance of the power system, we will apply blackout schedules,” Velychko explained in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine.
He added that after the daily average temperature dropped in October, the power system has already seen a significant increase in consumption, with its peak shifting from 20:00 to 19:10.
At the same time, Mr. Velychko emphasized that due to the drop in temperature, consumption in European countries will also increase, which will lead to higher electricity prices, in particular due to a decrease in the share of renewable energy sources.
In his opinion, this will affect the possibilities of commercial electricity imports due to the price caps on the Ukrainian spot market.
“Currently, the energy regulator NKREKP has started the procedure of revising price caps upwards, which is supported by the majority of energy market participants, and some even propose to cancel them. This is a painful topic for consumers, but it is important to understand that without an increase in price caps, commercial electricity imports will be unavailable, especially during periods of severe cold weather. Emergency assistance will be much more expensive,” said the member of the Supervisory Board of Centrenergo.
As for the company’s preparations for the winter, he said, repair and restoration works are ongoing, and the company plans to connect almost 1 GW of generating capacity to the power system.
“Centrenergo continues repair works at its own TPPs, which will allow us to provide the power system with about 1 GW of capacity. However, we urgently need to provide all generating capacities of the state with air defense and maximize the use of interstate cross-border crossing to attract imports,” Velychko summarized.
As reported, on October 1, NEURC approved a 23% increase in the price cap on the day-ahead market and the intraday market (IDM) from 11:00 to 17:00, up to UAH 6.9 thousand/MWh (previously UAH 5.6 thousand/MWh).
From December 1, 2024, the crossing capacity for imports is 2.1 GW.
As a result of a massive missile attack on the night of April 11, 2024, Russian troops completely destroyed Trypillia TPP (Kyiv region), on March 22 – Zmiiv TPP (Kharkiv region), and on July 25, 2022, Russian troops occupied Vuhlehirsk TPP (Donetsk region). Thus, Centrenergo lost 100% of its generation.
Acting CEO of NPC Ukrenergo Oleksiy Brekht emphasized that Ukraine could go through the winter without electricity restrictions or with minimal restrictions on daily consumption peaks at temperatures of zero degrees Celsius and above and with minor restrictions at temperatures of minus 10-15 degrees Celsius for up to three days.
On October 30, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with leading Nordic media that the coming winter would be a “big challenge” for Ukraine, including blackouts.
“You are preparing the country for winter, which is crucial, which is a big challenge, a very big challenge for us, because this will be the third winter with blackouts, with all the difficulties,” he said.
Source: https://interfax.com.ua/
Over the past three decades, Ukraine has reduced the area under hops from 7.4 thousand hectares in 1990 to 0.3 thousand hectares in 2023, according to Oleksandr Haidu, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy.
“Last year, only 460 tons of hops were harvested in Ukraine with an average yield of 13 c/ha,” he wrote on Facebook following a roundtable discussion on the implementation of EU requirements in the hop industry.
According to Gaidu, this reduction in acreage has led to the fact that domestic hops cover only 20% of the needs of breweries, while the rest of the products are imported.
In his opinion, the figures demonstrate the industry’s need for development and support, in particular by encouraging the use of domestic hops in production.
The agricultural holding Continental Farmers Group has completed sowing winter crops for the 2025 harvest on 85.2 thou hectares, of which 33.1 thou hectares are allocated for winter rape, 12.5 thou hectares for barley, and 39.6 thou hectares for wheat, the press service of the agricultural holding reports.
Continental said that despite the dry conditions at the start of the sowing season, due to timely agrotechnical measures and subsequent rains, it managed to get good quality winter rape seedlings on all sown areas. We are currently caring for the crop and preparing it for wintering.
“As for winter wheat, the sowing dates were slightly delayed due to prolonged periods of precipitation in the first ten days of October. However, this did not prevent us from sowing all the planned areas and successfully moving on to crop protection measures. Given the conditions of the region where we operate, the optimal circumstances for germination, we estimate the completion date as satisfactory and close to the long-term average,” said Konstantin Shityuk, Chief Operating Officer of the agricultural holding.
In addition, the second wave of harvesting is coming to an end on Continental’s fields. Sunflower, soybeans, seed and food potatoes have been fully harvested among the late crops. Corn threshing, digging of chip potatoes and harvesting of sugar beets are nearing completion.
Mriya Agro Holding and CFG, united under the name Continental Farmers Group, have been operating as a single business since November 2018, when Mriya entered into an agreement with international investor Salic UK to sell its assets.
Salic was founded in 2012. Its sole shareholder is the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which invests in agricultural and livestock production.
On November 10, new border crossing rules will come into force in the EU countries – a new IT system EES (Entry/Exit System) will start working.
EES will record the entry and exit of all foreigners, including citizens of non-EU countries, including Ukrainians. Instead of stamps in the passport, facial scanning and fingerprints will be used. Biometric data will be taken once during the first entry and stored in the system for three years.
The introduction of the system will not affect the visa-free regime.
The plants of nitrogen holding Ostchem produced 1.33 million tons of mineral fertilizers in January-September 2024, down 15.3% from the same period in 2023, the holding said in a statement on Thursday.
According to the report, Cherkasy-based Azot produced 1.06 million tons of mineral fertilizers, down 13.11% year-on-year, and Rivne Azot produced 304.9 thousand tons, down 12.2%.
Production declined for all major types of nitrogen fertilizers.
Ammonium nitrate production decreased by 16.09% to 547.6 thousand tons. UAN production, which had previously shown the highest growth rate, fell by 11.68% to 417.9 thousand tons. The biggest drop in Ukrainian production was for such fertilizers as urea, down 20.17% to 263 thousand tons, and UAN, down 48.9% to 18.9 thousand tons. Production of commercial ammonia also decreased by 11.4% to 43 thousand tons.
“Today we produce as much as the market is ready to consume. Our plants were unevenly loaded in 2024 and are still not operating at full capacity. However, the hot season has now begun, and production capacity is being utilized more. Despite rising gas prices, blackouts, and increased imports from Russia-friendly countries, we are on track to meet our production targets. Ukrainian fertilizers for the agricultural sector are produced in accordance with commercial contracts, and not a single delivery has been disrupted this year,” said Sergiy Pavlyuchuk, Chief Operating Officer of Ostchem.
He added that Cherkasy Azot and Rivne Azot continue to improve the production process and implement modern energy saving solutions. In particular, the installation of an in-house power generation system helped reduce electricity consumption by 40%.
As reported, on April 12, 2024, Group DF International and South Korean Hyundai Engineering signed a large-scale agreement to build a chemical hub in Rivne. The project envisages the construction of green ammonia and hydrogen plants based on renewable energy sources; new enterprises and production sites for the production of nitrogen fertilizers and chemical derivatives.
Ostchem is a nitrogen holding of Dmitry Firtash’s Group DF, which unites the largest mineral fertilizer producers in Ukraine. Since 2011, it has included Rivne Azot and Cherkasy Azot, as well as Severodonetsk Azot and Stirol, which are out of operation and located in the occupied territories.
Cherkasy Azot PJSC (Cherkasy, Ukraine) is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical enterprises. The design production capacity is 962.7 thousand tons of ammonia per year, 970 thousand tons of ammonium nitrate per year, 891.6 thousand tons of urea, and one million tons of UAN per year.
Rivne Azot is one of the largest Ukrainian chemical companies in Western Ukraine. On April 12, 2024, Group DF and South Korean Hyundai Engineering signed an agreement to build a chemical hub in Rivne. The project envisages the construction of green ammonia and hydrogen plants based on renewable energy sources; new enterprises and production sites for nitrogen fertilizers and chemical derivatives.
