The possibilities for increasing exports of Ukrainian mineral fertilizers and controlling their imports, in particular preventing the import of fertilizers from the aggressor country through other countries, were discussed by the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Vitaliy Koval, at a working meeting with representatives of domestic mineral fertilizer producers at the ministry, according to a press release on the ministry’s website.
“This meeting was supposed to answer the question of how to increase exports of Ukrainian fertilizers to Africa, Asia, and further to the EU. Representatives of Ostchem (the largest producer of nitrogen fertilizers) and the Union of Chemists of Ukraine were unanimous at this meeting: imports remain the key problem,” said Oleg Arestarkhov, director of corporate communications at Group DF, to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
According to him, it is imports that prevent Ukrainian companies from expanding production and increasing exports, primarily imports from countries of the former Soviet Union, which have a single market with Russia: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan, which account for almost half (300,000 tons) of all nitrogen fertilizer imports.
“They have access to cheap gas, so they can dump prices. Total imports of nitrogen fertilizers in the first four months of 2025 amounted to 1.2 million tons, of which 689,300 tons were nitrogen fertilizers. For comparison, Ukrainian production for the four months will be about 500,000 tons,” Arestarkhov said.
He added that Ukraine is losing the urea market, and a new trend is that China has begun to actively supply low-quality cheap ammonium sulfate.
According to the Ostchem representative, due to growing imports, Ukrainian enterprises are operating at the break-even point, which is holding back capital investment in industrial sites and forcing them to lay off workers.
An additional problem for Ukrainian producers is Russian shelling, after which Ostchem had to shut down its workshops several times in the first quarter due to damage to the external gas and energy infrastructure.
“It is logical that we are waiting for support from the government. We spoke openly about this at the meeting and provided them with all the statistics. The dominance of imports is one of the reasons for the decline in the industry. This is also the reason why Dniproazot and the state-owned Odesa Port Plant cannot start production. If the government lends a helping hand, it will see an increase in exports,” Oleksiy Golubov, president of the Ukrainian Chemists’ Union, told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
In turn, Minister Koval emphasized the instructions of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to expand the geography of exports, in particular to the Middle East and Africa, as well as to open a mineral fertilizer hub in South Africa and develop trade between the two countries.
“Ukraine has all the prerequisites for mineral fertilizers to become not only a means of strengthening food security within the country, but also a strategic export commodity,” said the head of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
According to the press release, representatives of investment companies, including umgi, also participated in the meeting.
In April 2025, Ukraine doubled its electricity exports compared to March, reaching 151.6 thousand MWh, while imports fell by almost a third to 187 thousand MWh, according to the Ukrainian energy and climate think tank DiXi Group, citing Energy Map.
As explained by DiXi Group experts on the center’s Facebook page, at the beginning of the month, electricity consumption increased due to lower air temperatures, in particular due to additional heating needs. However, in the second half of April, stable weather conditions – warmer and sunny weather – reduced the load on the power grid and contributed to an increase in exports.
Of the 151.6 thousand MWh, 38% (57.1 thousand MWh) went to Hungary, 35% (52.8 thousand MWh) to Moldova, 15% (23.3 thousand MWh) to Romania, 12% (18.4 thousand MWh) to Slovakia. Supplies to Poland have been suspended since mid-March.
Compared to April 2024, exports increased 12.6 times: at that time, they amounted to only 12 thousand MWh.
The distribution of 187,000 MWh of electricity imports by country is as follows: 45% (83,100 MWh) came from Hungary, 18% (34,200 MWh) from Slovakia, 18% (34.2 thousand MWh) from Poland, 13% (24.5 thousand MWh) from Romania, and 6% (11 thousand MWh) from Moldova.
Compared to April 2024 (223.8 thousand MWh), imports decreased by 16%.
“Despite the growth in exports, the total volume of imports in April still exceeds exports by 19%,” DiXi Group experts note.
As reported, Ukraine increased electricity exports by 131% in March to 76.3 thousand MWh, while imports increased by 11% to 272.3 thousand MWh.
Ukrainian companies are maintaining their export activity despite military action and internal restrictions. As Gennady Chizhikov said in an exclusive interview with the news agency Interfax-Ukraine, at the end of 2024, exports amounted to 129.2 million tons of goods worth $41 billion.
“Even in wartime, Ukrainian businesses continue to export. This confirms not only their resilience but also their ability to adapt to new global realities,” Chyzhykov said.
According to him, the CCI actively supports businesses in matters of certification, technical regulation, and digitalization of export processes.
For more details, see the interview at https://interfax.com.ua/news/interview/1069297.html
In 2025, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine (CCI) expects an increase in export volumes, primarily in industries where Ukraine already has sustainable competitive advantages. This was stated by CCIU
President Gennady Chizhikov in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
“We see growth potential in agro-processing, food industry, IT, machine building, pharmaceuticals, and woodworking. These industries have shown resilience even in wartime,” Chizhikov said.
According to him, products with high added value will remain the key driver. He stressed that the chamber’s task is to help businesses integrate into European value chains.
In April 2025, Ukraine exported 4.1 million tons of agricultural products, which is 23.4% less than the same indicator of the previous month, according to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club.
“Such dynamics of export reduction is typical for this season. The vast majority of the grown products have already been exported, and there are still small volumes for export,” the analysts explained.
Experts noted that almost all groups of goods in April 2025 show a decline in exports. The only exception is vegetable oils, the export volumes of which are growing. This is due to the atypical situation on the Ukrainian sunflower oil market, whose production volumes were stretched over time this year.
According to them, in April 2025, the structure of agricultural exports was dominated by vegetable oils, which amounted to 525.8 mln tons, up 6% compared to the previous month. At the same time, sunflower oil accounted for 91% of exports, and soybean oil – 9%.
Grain exports decreased by 33% and amounted to 2.4 mln tons, with corn accounting for 65%, wheat – 32%, barley – 2%; oilseeds – by 3% to 421.2 thsd tonnes. tons (soybeans – 78%, rapeseed – 20% and flax – 1%), cake after extraction of vegetable oils – by 14% to 423.0 thousand tons (sunflower – 73%, soybean – 27%), other types of agricultural products – by 2% to 357.0 thousand tons.
As of May 2, Ukraine had exported 35.341 million tons of grains and legumes since the beginning of the 2024-2025 marketing year (MY, July-June), of which 119,000 tons were shipped since the beginning of this month, according to the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine, citing data from the State Customs Service.
According to the report, as of May 3 last year, total shipments were estimated at 41.607 million tons, including 242,000 tons in May.
At the same time, since the beginning of the current season, 13.913 million tons of wheat (15.848 million tons in 2023/24 MY) have been exported, 2.264 million tons of barley (2.205 million tons), 10.8 thousand tons of rye (1.2 thousand tons), and 18.644 million tons of corn (23.074 million tons). (1.2 thousand tons), and corn – 18.644 million tons (23.074 million tons).
Total exports of Ukrainian flour since the beginning of the season as of May 2 are estimated at 58.7 thousand tons (in 2023/24 MY – 87.1 thousand tons), including wheat flour – 54.5 thousand tons (82.4 thousand tons).
