UCAB, together with leading agricultural associations led by the Ukrainian National Agrarian Forum, are asking COPA COGECA, a leading voice of European agriculture, to maintain a dialogue with Ukrainian colleagues on issues of agricultural trade rather than to lobby the Commission to block imports in key Ukrainian agri-food products. 

The appeal notes that large-scale re-orientation of Ukrainian exports and transit shipments of agrifood products to the EU since 2022 was not a matter of choice. It was a sad outcome of a cynically calibrated campaign by russia to block Black Sea shipping lanes, attack agricultural storage and logistics facilities and destroy crops in the country’s southern and south-eastern regions. 

Ukrainian farmers and agricultural producers appreciate strong messages of support from COPA COGECA and other leading European agricultural associations which were instrumental to pave the way for the launch of the EU Solidarity Lanes with Ukraine, as well as the EU decision to offer our country additional autonomous trade preferences. 

The latter proved to be a lifeline to the Ukrainian economy in 2022-2023, as earnings from Ukrainian agricultural exports filled 61% (21,9 billion USD) of total exports of goods from Ukraine for 10 months of 2023. 

At the same time, the russian campaign of economic warfare not only led to a reduction in the area of arable land by 5.5 million hectares in 2022-2033 and production losses of grain and oil crops by 27 million tons in 2023 compared to 2021. It also aims at sowing chaos and conflict between Ukrainian farmers and their EU peers. 

“It is imperative that we do not fall into this trap. As a future EU member, a country deeply committed to aligning its legislation and institutional practices to the EU rules and standards. We in Ukraine expect a dialogue and a joint search for a solution as a preferred way to deal with a crisis rather than through unilateral, zero-sum solutions”, – noted in the appeal.

UCAB calls upon COPA COGECA to engage into a dialogue with their Ukrainian peers before pushing the EU institutions for any unilateral measures to cut the lifeline for our economic survival.

Ukrainian agricultural community would be open to any form of such a dialogue, either through ad hoc consultations at business level or with participation of officials from the Ukrainian, EU and Member States agricultural authorities. The community proposes to hold the first session of this dialogue this March in Brussels.