The Cabinet of Ministers has extended until July 1 the ban on export of anti-epidemiological products. The government made the corresponding decision at a meeting on May 27.
“It is proposed to change the validity of the licensing regime for export of anti-epidemiological products until July 1, 2020. In fact, we extend the ban on export of such goods by one month,” Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture Ihor Petrashko said.
The government also allowed export of waterproof laboratory suits and disposable isolation medical gowns of types 1-5 of protection.
The government would make the promotion of Ukrainian exported goods one of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of Ukrainian diplomats, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said. “We are working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to slightly change the focus of the diplomatic service of Ukraine abroad. We will focus our diplomats on promoting Ukrainian exports. This is such a kind of reform. Promoting Ukrainian exports to global markets will become one of the KPIs of Ukrainian diplomats. Another KPI may be to attract investment in the country. From [Ukraine] export [is going], outside [the country] investment [is coming], and import will come into Ukraine with the help of efforts of diplomats of other states,” he said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
As for internal investments, the prime minister said that in the existing conditions, he would “localize himself and engage in economic and investment nationalism, in the good sense of the word, and invest in Ukraine.”In his opinion, the country has very good conditions for investment, as well as a good margin in certain sectors in terms of economic opportunities.
“Therefore, one needs to invest at home, develop local production, improve quality and then go outside with export,” Shmyhal said.
Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the export of agricultural products of the Myronovsky Hliboproduct (MHP) globally has not changed; the geography has slightly shifted from Europe towards Asia, the owner of the MHP, Yuriy Kosiuk, has said. “Globally, nothing has changed. Europe has slightly fallen due to lower consumption, although all of our enterprises are located there. The Arab markets, Africa have grown. Japan is a little closed, but in the near future, I think, everything will reopen. In general, the picture is unchanged. The only thing is that the geography has shifted slightly from Europe to Asia,” he said in an interview with the Novoye Vremia publication.
According to Kosiuk, the countries of the Arabian Peninsula have already made a request to support and secure them in the supply of meat.
“This issue became especially acute after the opening of markets. Many companies in these countries closed due to COVID-19 cases at production facilities. A similar situation in the United States: closures of production facilities due to outbreaks of COVID-19, shortage in the domestic market, half-empty shelves in stores. In Ukraine, thank God, this did not happen,” the owner of the company said.
At the same time, Kosiuk does not believe that, amid the coronavirus crisis, Ukrainian producers got the opportunity to gain more in the export of food products.
Main trade partners of Ukraine in % from total volume (export from Ukraine to other countries) in Jan-Feb 2020
SSC of Ukraine
Ukraine reduced the export of poultry and offal by 0.5% in January-April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, to 137,850 tonnes, the State Customs Service said.
According to the service’s data, in monetary terms the export of such products decreased by 10.4%, to $178.62 million.
The import of poultry and offal decreased by 33.4%, to 25,870 tonnes, in monetary terms by 33.4% as well, to $10.96 million for the four months of 2020.
According to the State Customs Service, pork export grew 1.9 times, to 941 tonnes. The products were delivered for $2.62 million, which is 2.5 times more than in January-April 2019.
The import of pork to Ukraine decreased by 61.5%, to 3,500 tonnes, in money terms by 56.5%, to $7.22 million for the first four months of 2020.
Ukraine reduced egg exports by 29.4%, to 37,170 tonnes, in money terms by 29.5%, to $33.44 million in the reporting period. The import of eggs decreased by 56.5%, to 892 tonnes, in monetary terms by 61.5%, to $3.09 million in January-April 2020.
Ukraine increased coke and semi-coke exports by 2.8 times compared to the same period in 2019б to 10,627 tonnes.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service, the export of coke and semi-coke in monetary terms increased by 12.2%, to $1.020 million during that period.
The majority of deliveries were made to Slovakia (70.59% of supplies in monetary terms) and Poland (29.41%).
Ukraine imported 92,886 tonnes of coke and semi-coke in January-April 2020, which is 76.2% less compared to the same period in 2019. In monetary terms, imports decreased by 82.3%, to $21.302 million. The import was mainly from the Russian Federation (76.40% of supplies in monetary terms), Poland (9.5%) and Hungary (7.19%).
