In Ukraine, approximately 1 million tons of capacity for processing corn into bioethanol is currently being built within industrial parks, which will require 3 million tons of corn annually to meet their raw material needs, according to Taras Mykolayenko, director of the Ukrainian Association of Bioethanol Producers.
“As soon as there is talk of creating a new industrial park, every second one envisages the production of bioethanol. We have 1 million tons of capacity that is just starting to be laid. If we convert (these figures – IF-U) into corn, we need 3 million tons. So, in an optimistic scenario, at full capacity (of bioethanol plants – IF-U), corn will be processed here,“ he said at the conference ”Agribusiness in Ukraine” in Kyiv on Thursday.
Mykolaienko specified that Europe currently consumes 6 million tons of bioethanol per year, so Ukrainian products could definitely be exported to the European Union. As part of the updated trade agreement, the EU, under the influence of its own producers, planned to set a quota for Ukraine at 100,000 tons, which, as a result of negotiations, the Ukrainian side was able to increase to 125,000 tons. The industry plans to increase it to 300,000 tons by 2026.
At the same time, he recalled that in July 2025, a bill was registered in the Verkhovna Rada, which provides for the introduction of a mandatory addition of more than 7% bioethanol to fuel in Ukraine from July 2026, the share of which should ideally be 10%. A similar requirement will apply to imported goods. Accordingly, bioethanol consumption in the domestic market will increase.
In addition, Mykolaienko said that the industry association will try to protect its own domestic market in 2026.
“We are faced with the fact that, in addition to quotas, there are technical regulations in the European Union. These are real non-trade barriers that work well. (…) If necessary, Europeans have a mechanism to stop exports. We plan to develop the same mechanisms, develop and implement a domestic environmental certification system, and we will also protect the Ukrainian market,” concluded the head of the Ukrainian Association of Bioethanol Producers.
Ukraine exported 99,300 tons of bioethanol in 2024, with private producers accounting for 62% of this export, and three private bioethanol plants accounting for 38,100 tons According to Nina Yuzhanina, a member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, the key factors for the development of bioethanol production in Ukraine were the replacement of Russian methanol with Ukrainian bioethanol by oil and gas companies.
She noted that of the 17 bioethanol plants operating in Ukraine, with a production capacity of over 420,000 tons per year, 12 have been privatized in recent years.
According to her, the key factors for the development of bioethanol production in Ukraine were the replacement of Russian methanol with Ukrainian bioethanol by oil and gas companies; the supply of consolidated batches of bioethanol (min. 10,000 tons) to the EU market; logistical features of bioethanol exports by tankers to EU oil refineries with return delivery of gasoline to Ukraine; the abolition of quotas on bioethanol exports to the EU (as of today, the quota of 100,000 tons of ethyl alcohol per year has already been restored) and the introduction of a mandatory 5% bioethanol blend in gasoline in Ukraine.
The MP also criticized the government for failing to protect foreign markets for one of Ukraine’s most promising processing industries.
As reported, the European Commission has approved quotas for Ukrainian agricultural products, which will be in effect from June 6 until the end of 2025 as part of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreement. According to a document published on the EU website, by the end of 2025, Ukraine will be able to supply the EU market under the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area in a 7/12 month regime (7 out of 12 months of the year) with wheat, flour, and meslin – 583,330 tons , corn – 379,167 thousand tons, barley – 204,167 thousand tons, poultry meat – 52,511 thousand tons, beef – 7 thousand tons, eggs – 3,500 tons, milk and cream – 5,833 tons, dry milk – 2,917 tons, butter – 1,750 tons.
In 2024, Ukraine exhausted its quota for bioethanol supplies to EU markets, which amounted to 100,000 tons per year, for the first time since signing the Association Agreement with the EU. Under the updated terms of 7/12, Ukrainian producers will be able to supply 58,000 tons of bioethanol to the EU market by the end of 2025.
