Ukraine benefits from the EU ban on the import of sunflower seeds to five neighboring countries, as domestic oil extraction plants are not sufficiently supplied with raw materials and are constantly experiencing a shortage, Stepan Kapshuk, director general of the Ukroliaprom association, told Interfax-Ukraine.
“Before the war there were 108 oil plants in Ukraine. Altogether they could produce 24 million tons of oil, of which 10 million tons were sunflower oil. However, these plants never managed to work at full capacity because of the lack of raw materials, which Ukraine exported. In the best seasons oil extraction plants managed to get 19 million tons of oil”, – explained the head of the industry association.
He said that previously the potential of Ukrainian oil extraction plants could produce 40-50 tons of oil per day. Because of the military actions in Ukraine stopped working about a dozen large operators, so daily plants produce 35 thousand tons of oil.
Kapshuk reminded that Ukroliaprom does not prevent the export of sunflower seeds, but proposes to introduce a mechanism of additional collection, in particular, export quotas.
“Now is the optimal moment for the government to take such a decision. Such a mechanism will bring about 3 billion UAH to the state budget, which can be used to pay salaries to the military,” – he stressed and said that the association has sent the relevant proposals to the Prime Minister.
Commenting on the agreement between the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine and the Ministry of Agriculture of Bulgaria on signing a memorandum on sunflower oil, Kapshuk said that such a decision was caused by Bulgaria’s increase in its own production of sunflower oil.
According to his information, in recent years the number of oil extraction plants in Bulgaria has increased from 4 to 11. Last year the Bulgarian processors were able to buy Ukrainian sunflower seeds at affordable prices and increased the production of oil up to 250-300 thousand tons with the internal demand of about 150 thousand tons.
“They need to sell their own goods both on the domestic market and increase their exports,” explained the head of the industry association.
According to Kapshuk, Ukraine used to export butter to 124 countries. In recent years the geography of exports is narrowing and Ukrainian butter is sold to about 80 countries. Its main buyers are India, China, Europe and African countries.
The head of Ukroliaprom cited the experience of Ukroliaproduct ALC (Dikanka TM), which has established air shipments of organic sunflower oil to America, as a positive example of exporting to long distances.
At the same time, Kapshuk pointed out that Ukraine is actively pushed out of the Indian market by the Russian Federation, which has increased production of sunflower.
“It is not profitable for Ukraine to export oil over long distances because of high freight prices. It reaches $370 (probably per ton) on shipments to India alone. Therefore, exports to countries with a high number of Ukrainian diaspora is not profitable for our producers so far,” he said, stressing the importance of maintaining traditional markets for oil.
The EU is considering imposing sanctions against dozens of companies from China, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan that cooperate with Russia, Reuters reports.
The agency cites diplomatic sources familiar with the European Commission’s draft proposals. Inclusion of these companies in the “black list” is possible within the framework of the prepared 11 package of anti-Russian sanctions.
In late April, Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury Elizabeth Rosenberg during a visit to Kazakhstan warned of the growing risks of secondary sanctions against Kazakh companies and banks that help Russia evade Western sanctions imposed in response to the full-scale war against Ukraine unleashed by Russia.
CHINA, EU, IRAN, KAZAKHSTAN, SANCTIONS, UZBEKISTAN
The European Dairy Association (EDA) expressed dissatisfaction with the European Commission over the unilateral imposition by several EU member states of restrictions on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products, in particular dairy products, and demands support for the extension of suspension of all tariffs and quotas, the EDA said.
“As EDA, we have clearly stated our support for the continuation of the European Commission’s zero quota, zero tariff approach when it comes to Ukrainian dairy exports to the EU. These exceptional times ask for unity rather than solo flying member states putting the internal market at risk. Today we cannot see a market impact that would justify any restrictions on the import of Ukrainian dairy imports, and we therefore called upon the European Commission to defend the integrity of the single market and to uphold the special suspension for all tariffs and quotas,” it said.
“Our special EU-Ukrainian dairy relationship was recently underlined with the attendance of the CEO of the Ukrainian Dairy Federation at our latest EDA Dairy Policy Conference in March 2023,” it added.
Nova Posta group of companies has suspended acceptance of food products for shipment to all EU countries due to import restrictions imposed by the Polish customs, the company’s press service said.
“We are waiting for further clarification from the governments of Poland and Ukraine to clarify the possible terms of resumption of such shipments,” the statement said.
All branches of “Novaya Posta” temporarily do not accept any products in international parcels that are sent to the EU, due to the introduction of temporary restrictions on the import and transit of a number of food products from Ukraine – sugar, cereals, confectionery, fruits, vegetables and others.
Founded in 2001 Nova Posta is the leader of express-delivery market in Ukraine. Its network consists of more than 6 000 offices all over the country. The group “Nova Posta” provides customers with a full range of logistics and related services. The group consists of Ukrainian and foreign companies, including Nova Posta, NP Logistic, Post Finance (Forpost system) and Nova Posta Global.
A reminder that Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria imposed a ban on a number of agricultural products from Ukraine, but did not ban their transit through their territory.
Negotiations to unblock imports of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU between Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and the European Commission (EC) continue. The EU offered a package of financial assistance to five countries neighboring Ukraine in exchange for the lifting of restrictive measures on Ukrainian agricultural products, informs the Ukrainian government portal.
“These countries will receive the package offered by the Commission on condition that member states cancel their unilateral measures,” EC Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said after a meeting with representatives of Ukraine and the five EU member states that restrict the export of Ukrainian agricultural products.
According to him, the European Commission understands the importance of a joint EU approach rather than unilateral decisions, which can lead to new bans and thereby endanger the internal European market.
“The Commission has taken note of the views of the participants. We agreed to continue political consultations in the coming days to find an early solution to this problem,” Dombrovskis summarized.
The ban on the transit of Ukrainian grain through the territory of Poland and other countries was imposed last week. Poland subsequently pledged to unblock the transit of Ukrainian products through the territory of a neighboring country.
Ukrainian sugar producers have asked EU countries to reconsider the sugar export ban on domestic EU markets and resume it taking into account the sugar shortage in Europe, Nazar Mykhailovin, acting head of Ukrtsukor, said.
“Not all countries impose an embargo on Ukrainian products. We need a way through which we can sell exports of sugar. We have to forget about the sea route for some time, but the transit through the EU countries, particularly through Poland and Romania is needed,” he commented to Interfax-Ukraine agency about the situation with the export of Ukrainian sugar to the EU.
According to the industry association, during the period from June 2022 to March 2023 almost 99.9% of Ukrainian sugar was sold on the EU internal market.
The top countries that bought Ukrainian sugar in March 2023 included Romania, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Croatia. Poland, one of the first to ban imports of Ukrainian sugar, bought 8,242 tons of the product from Ukraine, Mikhailovin said.
“Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has lost its sea export corridor, which has become inaccessible for Ukrainian sugar. Accordingly, the export was carried out mainly to European countries.
At the same time Mikhailovin reminded that due to the beginning of the war the EU made a decision, thanks to which and the presence of export potential Ukraine has the ability to export sugar to the EU domestic markets.
In the sugar beet sugar production season of the 2022 harvest, the factories produced 1.330 million tons of products, which fully met the needs of the domestic market and export potential, the industry association said.
“In the 2022/2023 marketing year, the export potential will depend on the area sown under sugar beet, weather conditions and yields in both Ukraine and Europe,” Mikhailovin said.
