The Ukrainian Chemists Union considers it necessary to introduce quotas for imports of fertilizers, which will make it impossible for Russian manufacturers to bypass trade restrictions and load Ukrainian plants at full capacity.
“We propose the introduction of quotas for complex and nitrogen fertilizers for all countries in order to preserve the historical balance of imports. Each country will supply its products to the extent it has historically supplied, this will make impossible for Russian manufacturers to bypass trade restrictions and load the plants at full capacity,” Ihor Holchenko, the vice president of the union and the director for regulatory policy of Group DF, told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, this protective mechanism is applied in the countries where there is a threat of damage from growing imports. The introduction of quotas will be preceded by an investigation by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. According to Holchenko, quoting will give a clear picture of how much to produce, while regulators will monitor abuse.
The expert said there is no shortage of nitrogen and complex fertilizers in the Ukrainian market: the country provides itself with nitrogen fertilizers, and it can cover 800,000 tonnes that were supplied from the Russian Federation by increasing domestic production.
As for nitrogen fertilizers, Ukrainian enterprises are not loaded at full capacity, as well as for complex ones, where the load is up to 12%. Complex fertilizers in Ukraine are produced by Sumykhimprom and Dniprovsky Plant of Mineral Fertilizers. Ukraine can produce 700,000 tonnes of complex fertilizers, but in 2018 it produced only about 40,000 tonnes.
