Ukrainian traders report a new wave of price cuts for imported tomatoes. Short-term, but noticeable increase in prices last week was one of the reasons for a sharp decline in demand for Turkish tomatoes from buyers, analysts of the project EastFruit. Also, the project experts note that this week only single batches of local greenhouse vegetables were on sale, due to the fact that the majority of greenhouse farms in Ukraine have already completed the season of realization.
At the same time, the supply of imported tomatoes in the Ukrainian market continued to increase gradually, which was the main reason for the price decrease in this segment. Thus, today greenhouse tomatoes are on sale at UAH 70-80/kg ($1.68-1.92/kg), which is on average 11% cheaper than at the end of the last working week. The main reason for the negative price trend in the segment of greenhouse tomatoes, producers call a sharp decline in demand for this product, as well as the quality of vegetables offered.
It should be added that today imported tomatoes in Ukraine are already sold on average 54% more expensive than in the same period last year. However, most representatives of wholesale companies do not exclude further price reduction. According to traders, if the current sales rates are maintained, they will be forced to concede in price again in order to prevent the accumulation of unsold products in warehouses.
You can get more detailed information about the development of the market of greenhouse tomatoes and other horticultural products in Ukraine by subscribing to the analytical weekly EastFruit Ukraine Weekly Pro. Detailed information about the product can be found here.
The Franco-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFU) gathered CCIFU members, diplomats, friends and partners in Kyiv at the Parkovy Exhibition and Convention Center for its traditional annual Beaujolais Nouveau charity event. For the second year in a row, CCIFU will support the UNBROKEN Ukraine Foundation and its project “Prostheses for the unbroken”.
This year, the Franco-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry also celebrates an important anniversary – 30 years of activity in Ukraine!
The event was held under the high patronage and with the participation of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Ukraine, Mr. Gael Vessier, and gathered about a thousand guests.
Every year, on the third Thursday of November, all of France celebrates Beaujolais Nouveau, a festival of young wine that marks the end of the grape harvest and the beginning of a new wine year.
At this time, in the small Beaujolais region, located in the north of Lyon, one of the first grapes to ripen is the Gamay variety, which is black with white flesh.
Beaujolais nouveau wine is different from other wines in that it goes on sale immediately after the fermentation process, six weeks after harvest, and is stored for no more than six months. The tradition of this celebration was born in 1951.
The Franco-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ukraine (Chambre de commerce française en Ukraine, CCIFU) is a non-profit association designed to promote the growth of French companies’ investments in the Ukrainian economy and create favorable conditions for the development of French companies present on the Ukrainian market or wishing to start their business in Ukraine.
The Franco-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Ukraine unites more than 130 companies from the agricultural sector (Limagrain[en], Euralis, Mas Seeds), banking (Credit Agricole, Ukrsibbank), automotive industry (Renault, Michelin), machine building (Schneider Electric), hospitality (InterContinental Kyiv), tourism and entertainment (France Groupe, Club Med), healthcare (Sanofi), transportation (Air France), trade and other services (Auchan, L’Oreal, Chanel, Danone, Lactalis, Leroy Merlin).
This week Ukrainian producers have had the opportunity to increase prices for onions, analysts of the EastFruit project report. According to the farmers themselves, they manage to increase prices for this product due to a noticeable increase in demand. At the same time, the supply of quality onions on the market is quite limited, as many farms continue to refrain from selling these products from storage.
It should be noted that the price growth is observed only in the segment of high quality products, when the supply of medium and low quality vegetables has noticeably decreased. Today, Ukrainian farms offer quality onions for sale in the range of 12-17 UAH/kg ($0.29-0.41/kg), which is on average 35% more expensive than at the end of last week.
Thus, currently onion prices in Ukraine already exceed last year’s figures for the same period by an average of 16%. But, market analysts note that this situation is somewhat artificial and is due to the fact that many farms simply refuse to sell at current prices, thereby creating an even more significant shortage of these vegetables in the market.
If we compare the situation on the onion market with other countries of the project monitoring region, then by the end of this week this vegetable in Ukraine may lead the rating with the highest prices. According to experts, if this trend on the market strengthens, import of onions to Ukraine in the current season may start earlier than traditional terms.
You can get more detailed information about the market development of onions and other horticultural products in Ukraine by subscribing to the operative analytical weekly – EastFruit Ukraine Weekly Pro. Detailed information about the product can be found here.
Germany’s Angela Merkel recalls tricky dealings with world leaders from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin during her 16-year chancellorship in her frank memoirs, published as her legacy comes under intense scrutiny.
Here are some quotes from “Freedom: Memories 1954-2021” according to extracts released in Die Zeit weekly before next week’s official publication:
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN
“Someone who was always on his guard to avoid being treated badly and always ready to dish it out, including power games with dogs and making others wait for him. You could find all this childish, reprehensible. You could shake your head at it. But it didn’t take Russia off the map.”
“He was not interested in building democratic structures or prosperity for a well-functioning economy in his country or elsewhere. Rather, he wanted to counter the fact that the United States had emerged victorious from the Cold War. He wanted Russia to remain an indispensable pole in a multipolar world after the end of the Cold War. To achieve this, he primarily drew on his experience in the security services.”
WRANGLING OVER UKRAINE AT NATO SUMMIT IN BUCHAREST, 2008:
“I thought it was an illusion to assume that the Membership Action Plan (MAP) status would have given Ukraine and Georgia protection from Putin’s aggression, that this status would have had a deterrent effect to the extent that Putin would have accepted the developments without doing anything.
“Would it have been conceivable that NATO member states would have responded militarily – with material as well as troops – and intervened? Would it have been conceivable that I, as Federal Chancellor, would have asked the German Bundestag for such a mandate for our Bundeswehr as well and would have received a majority in favour?”
“In another context, which I no longer remember in detail
he (Putin) later said to me: “You won’t be Chancellor forever. And then they’ll become a member of NATO. And I want to prevent that.” And I thought: You won’t be president forever either. Nevertheless, my worries about future tensions with Russia in Bucharest had not diminished.”
ON DONALD TRUMP
“He saw everything from the perspective of the property developer he was before entering politics. Each parcel of land could only be sold once, and if he didn’t get it someone else did. That’s how he saw the world.”
“For years, the many German cars on the streets of New York had been a thorn in his side. That Americans were buying them could, in his opinion, only be due to dumping prices and alleged exchange rate manipulation between the euro and the dollar.”
She wrote how Trump did not shake her hand for photographers at a White House meeting in 2017 even after she whispered to him that they should. “As soon as I said that, I shook my head inwardly at myself. How could I have forgotten that Trump knew exactly what effect he wanted to achieve.”
“He was obviously very fascinated by the Russian president. In the years that followed I had the impression that politicians with autocratic and dictatorial traits captivated him.
“We talked on two different levels. Trump on an emotional level, me on a factual one. For him, all countries were in competition with each other, in which the success of one was the failure of the other. He did not believe that co-operation could increase the prosperity of all.”
CHILDHOOD AND LIFE IN COMMUNIST EAST GERMANY:
“Life in the GDR was a constant life on the edge. Even if a day began in a carefree manner, everything could change in a matter of seconds if political boundaries were transgressed… the state knew no mercy. Finding out exactly where these boundaries lay was the real art of living. My somewhat conciliatory character and my pragmatic approach helped me.”
She described a sense of superiority “because, despite everything, this state did not manage to deprive me of something that made me live, feel and sense: a certain degree of carefreeness.”
According to EastFruit analysts, Ukraine in the 2024/25 season continues to actively catch up with the world leaders in frozen raspberry exports, which remain Serbia and Poland. However, Poland is increasingly dependent on re-exports of products, mainly of Ukrainian origin, to hold on to its leadership position.
During the first three months of the season, from July to September inclusive, Ukraine exported more than 28 thousand tons of frozen raspberries and blackberries, which is a new record for this period. Exports thus increased by 36% compared to the same period last year and by 45% compared to 2022. It is noteworthy that the increase in exports comes against the backdrop of numerous reports from farmers about a lower raspberry crop in 2024.
“Although Poland remains the main market for frozen raspberries from Ukraine, its share in total exports continues to decline. Ukraine is gradually starting to enter with frozen raspberries directly into traditional markets for Poland, such as Germany and France. For example, this season the share of the German market in frozen raspberry exports from Ukraine already exceeds 20%,” says Andriy Yarmak, economist at FAO Investment Department.
Among the main markets for Ukrainian raspberries at the beginning of the season are also the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Austria, Belgium and Italy. Also in the new season, the first batches of Ukrainian frozen raspberries have already been shipped to such important and promising markets as the USA and Canada.
According to analysts, even Serbia, the world leader in raspberry exports, purchased a large batch of produce from Ukraine in September 2024, apparently for re-export.
Spanish authorities intend to regularize up to 300,000 migrants a year to make up for the country’s labor shortage due to an aging population, Spanish Social Security and Migration Minister Elma Sais said Tuesday.
“Spain has a choice between an open prosperous country or a closed poor country. We have chosen the second,” Western media quoted her as saying.
According to her, the policy involving migrants will last three years. She specified that Spain needs 250 – 300 thousand foreign workers a year, able to pay taxes, in order to preserve the welfare state.
The new measures of the authorities provides for simplification of procedures for issuing immigrants residence and work permits, which will contribute to the receipt of foreign workers guaranteed labor rights. In addition, newcomers seeking work will be able to extend their visa from three to 12 months. Foreigners with study visas will be allowed to work up to 30 hours per week.
The media notes that the economy of Spain – a country with a population of 48.9 million – is the fastest growing in the EU. This trend is also facilitated by the influx of skilled migrants from Latin American countries. Fitch Ratings Inc. estimates that more migrants will enter Spain in 2022 than in the entire previous decade at one time.
However, October opinion polls conducted by Spanish media showed that 57% of respondents believe the current level of migration into the country is too high. 54% believe that the real number of immigrants is higher than the authorities declare.
