Imports of food and beverages from Italy in January-August 2021 reached EUR 138.15 million, which is 15.4% more than in the same period last year, representatives of the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the VI Italian Cuisine Week held in Kyiv.
“According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat), in 2020, imports of Italian food products to Ukraine, including drinks, grew by 26.5%, or to EUR 208 million compared to 2019. Food products now account for 12.3% of total import of Italian goods,” ITA Kyiv Office Manager Tony Corradini said.
According to the data presented by ITA, last year’s indicator is almost 2.3 times higher than the 2013 indicator and 3.8 times higher than in 2015, when a local minimum of food imports was recorded, after which it is growing continuously.
According to Corradini, Italian pasta occupies 55% of the Ukrainian market, wine over 30%. Italy is also the largest exporter of extra-virgin olive oil to Ukraine.
According to statistics, the main growth in imports of food from Italy to Ukraine this year was provided by dairy products (a rise of 39.4%, to EUR 9.95 million), pasta and bakery products (a rise of 11.6%, to EUR 16.64 million), sparkling wine, other special wines, distilled and mixed alcoholic beverages (a rise of 52.9%, to EUR 24.04 million), and wine (a rise of 17.4%, to EUR 15.05 million).
In addition to holding the new Italian cuisine week, the Italian Embassy in Ukraine and ITA, as part of the promotion of authentic Italian products, also signed a cooperation agreement with the second largest Ukrainian supermarket chain Silpo.
“Thanks to this agreement, Ukrainians will be able to buy real, high-quality Italian products, and we, in turn, will raise awareness of Italian culture and fight against such a phenomenon as “Italian ring” [when only the name of the product is Italian],” Italian Ambassador to Ukraine Pier Francesco Zadzo said.
Under the agreement, the Silpo chain, represented by 320 stores in 80 cities, will promote both existing and new Italian brands and goods to Ukrainians, as well as further develop the Positano restaurant, which is part of the Fozzy Group, Head of the Own Import Department Svitlana Schehrykovych said.
Ukraine in January-November this year reduced imports of nickel ores and concentrate by 21.6% compared to the same period last year, to 1.134 million tonnes.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service, in monetary terms, imports of nickel ores fell by 23.5%, to $54.089 million.
The ore was imported from Guatemala (100% of supplies in monetary terms).
In January-November 2021, Ukraine did not export or re-export these products.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Arab Republic of Egypt has canceled preventive import duties on steel billets, rebar and aluminum products regardless the country of origin, including from Ukraine.According to an official posting on the website of the Egyptian Ministry, Minister of Trade and Industry Nevin Gamea has issued two orders to terminate resolutions No. 907 of 2019 and No. 168 of 2021, introducing preventive measures against the import of steel billets, rebar and aluminum products.According to this information, these two decisions come into force the next day after their publication in the Egyptian Gazette.As the minister explained, both decisions were made to support the sectors of the economy due to high inflation rates, growth in energy, materials and to meet the production needs of Egyptian companies.In turn, Ibrahim al Seginy, Assistant Minister for Economic Affairs and Head of the Commercial Processing Sector, explained that the sector received a number of complaints from the local industry, as the introduction of preventive duties affected these sectors. At the same time, it was recorded that there was a significant increase in prices for these goods, as well as the lack of a sufficient number of local substitute products to meet the needs of the local market. It also affected the high cost of finished goods, which negatively affects the competitiveness of Egyptian exports.According to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, on April 15, 2019, Egypt announced the introduction of temporary protective duties on steel products (for fittings in the amount of 17-25%, semi-finished products made of iron and unalloyed steel – 10-16%, depending on the price).This measure was introduced by Egypt to protect local steel producers from an increase in steel supplies to the country after the closure of the American market (as a result of the US government’s imposition of barrage measures on steel and retaliatory measures from other countries, including the EU). These restrictions were supposed to be valid until April 11, 2022.
Ukraine in January-October 2021 increased imports of hard coal and anthracite (heading code 2701) by 14.8% (by 2.064 million tonnes) compared to the same period in 2020, to 16.03 million tonnes. According to the State Customs Service, coal was imported for $1.741 billion, which is 21.6% more than in January-October 2020 ($1.432 billion).Coal was received from the Russian Federation for $1.141 billion (share in imports 65.54%), the United States for $322.306 million (18.51%), Kazakhstan for $195.42 million (11.22%), and other countries for $82.329 million (4.73%). Coal exports by Ukraine in January-October 2021 amounted to 4,982 tonnes for $0.8 million, including to Slovakia for $0.768 million, Hungary for $0.018 million, Bulgaria for $0.007 million, other countries for $0.007 million. For the same period of 2020, exports amounted to 2,255 tonnes for $0.186 million, including to Poland for $0.156 million, Moldova for $0.027 million, and Hungary for $0.004 million.
Ukraine in January-October this year reduced imports of aluminum ores and concentrate (bauxite) in quantity terms by 2.3% compared to the same period last year, to 4.189 million tonnes.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service, during this period, bauxite imports in monetary terms decreased by 0.1%, to $190.706 million.
At the same time, the products were imported mainly from Guinea (60.74% of supplies in monetary terms), Brazil (21.1%) and Ghana (16.18%).
In January-October 2021, Ukraine re-exported 271 tonnes of bauxite for $65,000 to Belarus (52.31%), Poland (43.08%) and Germany (4.62%), while in ten months of 2020, some 184 tonnes of bauxite were re-exported to Poland for $29,000.
Primary registrations of used cars imported from abroad in Ukraine in October exceeded 56,100 vehicles, which is 50% more than in the same month of 2020, and 3% more than in September this year, according to the Ukrautoprom association.“The larger number of registrations of imported used cars was recorded only in February 2019. Then, as now, the surge in registrations was associated with the end of the period of preferential legalization of cars with euro-number plates,” the association said on the website.As reported, preferential conditions for customs clearance will be valid until November 10, 2021 – 180 days from the date of their entry into force. For combatants, the deadline is 270 days, until February 8, 2022.According to the report, the share of used foreign cars of the total registration of passenger cars in October increased to 87.7%, i.e. new cars were registered 85.7% less.The most popular brand among the customs cleared used vehicles was Volkswagen with 10,500 registrations, Renault was second with 4,599 used cars, the third result is for Ford – 4,322 vehicles. Opel followed it in the list, the used cars of this brand were chosen by 4,290 Ukrainians, and Skoda closes the top five with 4,015 cars.In total, in January-October 2021, Ukrainian license plates received for 411,700 imported used cars – 47% more than a year earlier and almost five times more than the number of new passenger cars.In 2020, 353,400 used foreign passenger cars were registered in Ukraine, which is 4.1 times more than sales of new cars (85,500 units).
