Russian troops carried out about 1,200 combined strikes on Ukraine’s railway infrastructure in 2025, which is one of the three key problems of the season for agricultural exports, said Valery Tkachov, deputy director of the commercial department of Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ).
“The most painful thing for us is that our employees are dying under enemy fire. More than 1,000 railway workers have already been killed during the full-scale war. This is the most difficult challenge, which cannot be measured only by technical indicators,” he said at the Forbes Agro conference in Kyiv on Thursday.
Tkachov named security as the first systemic problem. Last year alone, the enemy carried out 1,200 attacks on railway energy facilities, rolling stock, and control centers in an attempt to completely stop the movement of export cargo.
Tkachov named the second critical problem as restrictions on the external power supply to the network due to strikes on the energy sector, which directly reduces the throughput capacity of key trunk lines. In particular, after the shelling of the Kolosivsky passage in the south and the Kamyanets-Podilsky junction in the west, Ukrzaliznytsia was forced to switch to the use of diesel locomotives on a massive scale.
This leads to a significant slowdown in train traffic, restrictions on train weight, and an increase in transportation costs due to the high cost of diesel fuel compared to electricity. The third set of problems in the work of Ukrzaliznytsia, according to Tkachov, covers economic and political barriers.
This particularly concerns restrictions on western land crossings from neighboring countries and low demand for Danube ports. Despite the availability of alternative routes through Reni and Izmail, agribusiness still prefers the ports of Greater Odessa, which creates an uneven load on the infrastructure.
The deputy director of the UZ department assured that the railway network remains stable, but its efficiency is still critically dependent on the stability of the power system and the security situation on the southern approaches to sea terminals.
Ukraine has confirmed its readiness to open a food grain hub in Ghana and is interested in joint projects for the processing of agricultural products, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said following talks with his Ghanaian counterpart Samuel Okudzeto Ablakawa in Kyiv on Wednesday.
During the meeting, the parties discussed strengthening global food security and developing agricultural partnerships. Sybiga emphasized that Ukraine considers Ghana a key partner in West Africa and is ready to remain a reliable supplier of agricultural products to the region.
“Ukraine is ready to remain a reliable supplier of agricultural products and at the same time is interested in joint projects with added value, particularly in the field of processing and logistics,” said the head of the foreign ministry.
As reported, in July 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a telephone conversation with Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on cooperation in the agricultural industry. The presidents agreed to expand practical cooperation, particularly in the construction of a logistics hub for food storage. Zelensky also confirmed his intention to send a Ukrainian delegation to Ghana to work on these projects.
Ghana has consistently supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity, including by voting in favor of the UN General Assembly resolution “Support for sustainable peace in Ukraine” on February 24, 2026.
According to the National Scientific Center “Institute of Agrarian Economics” (IAE), citing data from the State Customs Service, Ukraine increased its imports of agricultural products by 13% compared to 2024, reaching $9.12 billion in 2025.
According to the research institute, EU member states retained their position as the main supplier and provided 53.9% of domestic agri-food imports worth $4.91 billion.
According to the institution, EU member states retained their position as the main supplier for the seventh consecutive year and provided 53.9% of domestic agri-food imports in 2025, worth $4.91 billion, with the value of supplies from the EU increasing by 15% compared to 2024.
According to the IEA, imports from other regions were much lower. Food supplies from Asian countries amounted to $1.635 billion (17.9%), Latin America – $693 million (7.6%), and Africa – $489 million (5.4%). All of them also increased sales of agricultural products for the needs of the Ukrainian domestic market last year.
Since 2017, Poland has held the top spot in the ranking of major suppliers of agricultural products to Ukraine, selling $1.15 billion worth of agricultural goods in 2025, 24% more than in 2024. The top ten exporters also included Germany ($692 million), Turkey ($654 million), Italy ($575 million), the Netherlands ($417 million), Norway ($338 million), France ($317 million), Spain ($314 million), China ($264 million), and the United States ($235 million). In total, these ten countries accounted for 54% of all imports.
In the commodity structure of purchases, 70% of the value was made up of fruits, berries, and nuts ($1 billion), fish and seafood ($999 million), beverages ($870 million), cocoa products ($640 million), food products ($575 million), tobacco products ($493 million), feed ($476 million), coffee and tea ($471 million), vegetables ($467 million), and oilseeds ($418 million).
“Food imports to Ukraine in 2025 reached their highest level in monetary terms since the country gained independence, growing for the third consecutive year amid a full-scale invasion of our state by the Russian Federation. Against the backdrop of a general trend of rising food prices, especially given the significant risks for specialized businesses in Ukraine, the cost of foreign purchases in 2026 is likely to remain high,” concluded Bogdan Dukhnytskyi, a leading researcher at the IAE.
According to the results of 2025, Ukraine imported Polish agri-food products worth EUR 1.2 billion and entered the list of key destinations for Polish exports outside the European Union, reported the Polish online publication agronews.com.pl.
According to the publication, Polish food exports to third countries grew by 3% last year, reaching EUR 14.5 billion, which accounted for 25% of total sales. The main consumers in this segment, apart from Ukraine, were the United Kingdom with EUR 4.4 billion and the United States with EUR 838 million. Meat (EUR 1.6 billion), dairy products (EUR 1.1 billion), and chocolate products (EUR 1 billion) were in the highest demand in markets outside the EU.
According to Polish analysts, the strengthening of the zloty exchange rate, which slightly reduced the price competitiveness of Polish goods, was a restraining factor for further expansion.
At the same time, the European Union remains Poland’s key trading partner, accounting for 75% of all shipments. Exports to the bloc grew by 10% to EUR43.9 billion. Germany was traditionally the main buyer, with EUR14.8 billion. The commodity structure of European supplies was dominated by poultry meat (EUR4.2 billion, +26%), beef (EUR2.7 billion, +37%), and confectionery.
Poland’s total agri-food exports in 2025 set a historic record and reached EUR58.4 billion, allowing the country to maintain a positive trade balance of EUR19.8 billion.
The volume of agricultural production in Ukraine in January 2026 increased by 3.2% compared to the same period last year, according to the State Statistics Service (Gosstat).
According to the agency, the growth was driven exclusively by the livestock sector. Data on crop production for this period is traditionally unavailable.
The main driver was agricultural enterprises, which increased production by 11.9%. The best dynamics in this segment were shown by Vinnytsia (25.7%), Lviv (25.1%), and Kirovohrad (19.7%) regions. Overall, growth was recorded in 18 regions.
However, there was a decline in private households: production volumes fell by 15% compared to January 2025. The largest decline in the private sector was recorded in Zakarpattia (index 54.6%), Donetsk region (60.5%), and Lviv region (75.1%).
In regional terms, the largest decline in all categories of farms was recorded in Donetsk (index 60.5%), Zakarpattia (68.3%), and Chernivtsi (82.9%) regions. At the same time, Vinnytsia (+22.9%) and Lviv (+22.7%) regions became the leaders in overall growth.
As reported, at the end of 2025, agricultural production in Ukraine decreased by 6.8% compared to 2024. The decline in crop production was 7.5%, and in livestock production, 4.1%. Only Chernihiv, Sumy, and Vinnytsia regions maintained positive dynamics over the past year.
In January 2026, Ukraine exported 5.0 million tons of agricultural products, which is 0.8% less than in the previous month, according to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UAC).
According to analysts, in the first month of the year, there was an increase in exports only in the grain segment, while all other types of products saw a decline. Corn remains the main export item at present.
According to experts, in the structure of agribusiness exports in January 2026, grain crops increased by 13% compared to the previous month and amounted to 3.4 million tons (corn – 83%, wheat – 16%), oilseeds decreased by 32% to 351.7 thousand tons (soybeans – 63%, rapeseed – 35%, and sunflower – 1%), vegetable oils – by 6% to 479.7 thousand tons (sunflower oil – 82%, rapeseed oil – 10%, and soybean oil – 7%), oilcake after extraction of vegetable oils decreased by 32% to 411.0 thousand tons (sunflower – 73%, soybean – 27%), other types of agricultural products decreased by 15% to 349.9 thousand tons.
