Agriculture

Agriculture in Ukraine secures approximately 10-11% of national GDP and employs a quarter of working population. Ukraine has 42.8 m ha of agricultural land comprising 71% of the country’s total area, of which 32.5 m ha is arable (excl. pastures, grasslands, permanent plantings etc.). Ukraine has favorable climate for large-scale agriculture, rich agricultural soils and access to abundant land and water resources.

Ukraine is richly endowed with chernozem (also known as “black soil”), one of the most fertile soils worldwide. Chernozem, a black-colored soil that contains a very high percentage of humus (3% to 15%) along with phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia, occupies 41% of Ukraine’s total area and even more of its agricultural land (54%), and plow land (58%).

Thirty percent of the world's black soil is in Ukraine, and 42 million of the country's 60 million hectares (231,660 square miles) is agricultural land where wheat, barley, rapeseed and sunflowers grow in abundance. The crops constitute about 55% of the total agricultural output. Among the leading crops are wheat, maize, sunflowers, sugar beets, tobacco, legumes, fruits and vegetables. Livestock farming includes cattle, pigs, sheep, horses etc.

By virtue of its unspoiled soil, Ukraine is also emerging as a major producer of organic food. Already, hundreds of thousands of acres are devoted to organic farming and agricultural officials and outside experts believe that Ukraine can become a major exporter and help satisfy the increasing demand in Western Europe for such products.

Annual production of wheat in Ukraine is 15 to 22 million t. The entire cereal production reaches 90-100 mn t. Local needs, even if dramatically increased, take 35 to 40 mn t., making around 50-60 mn t. available for exports in the sphere of agriculture. Ukraine thus occupies sixth place on the world grain export market.

Most of the exported grain is destined for the countries of Middle East and North Africa. The local Ministry of Economic Development and Trade subjects export contracts for certain groups of agricultural products to registration. The key items exported from Ukraine are subjected to licensing and/or quotas where applicable and must be registered prior the export.

In 2015 Ukraine secured following leading positions worldwide:

• 1st exporter of sunflower oil(4 million tons);
• 3rd exporter of barley (4.5 million tons);
• 4th exporter of maize (15.5 million tons);
• 6th exporter of wheat(15.5 million tons);
• 7th exporter of soybean(2.1 million tons);

The production of cereal and industrial crops tends to be the focal point for agricultural enterprises. Major cereal crops of grain markets in Ukraine incorporate winter wheat, spring barley and fodder maize. Winter wheat is the core crop for both private farms and agricultural enterprises.

Grain crops

In 2014/15 MY, cereal production reached another record of 63,8 million tons (excluding the Crimea), which was possible by an increase in the average yield from 40,6 t/ha to 43,7 t/ha despite the reduction in acreage planted by almost 5% compared to 2013/14 MY.

In 2015/16 MY, the drop of grain export is expected to be about 28%, which is primarily caused by the reduction of gross production. Maize is expected to be the most exported crop with the share in total exports of almost 60%.

Wheat

Wheat is grown all across the country, but central and south-central regions are the key growing areas of Ukraine. Wheat is planted in the fall and harvested throughout July or August of the following year. About 95% of it is winter wheat.

Оnce known as the breadbasket of Europe, Ukraine is about to regain that place as harvests soar. Ukraine produces mostly the hard red winter wheat of bread wheat. Normally, some 80% of domestic wheat crops are considered to be of milling quality according to national standards. In 2013 the production of wheat in Ukraine was 23,01 mn t. which is 59.18% more than in 2012.

Wheat is widely used for production of pastry and bread. Ukraine’s bakery production has a substantial strategic role in the domestic economy and accounts for 15% of national food industry. In addition, wheat tops the grain prices in Ukraine, being the most expensive grain.

Increase in acreage planted approximately by 11% in the agricultural enterprises, mainly due to winter wheat, caused by high level of profitability in 2014 (about 15,6% in USD equivalent) as compared to other crops. An additional incentive for the increase of sown areas under wheat is a limited activity of the Russian Federation on international wheat markets and, thus, a possibility to substitute the share of Russia.

The increase in wheat production in 2013-2014 allowed increasing exports. Particularly, in 2014, the export of this crop increased by 41% compared to the previous year. The main export destinations for wheat were Africa and Asia, but it is worth to mention a significant expansion of exports to the European Union, which have increased by more than 10 times in 2013-2014, thus making EU the second largest foreign trade partner with the share of 10%. 65% out of 1 million tons of wheat, exported to the EU were delivered to Spain.

The wheat exports tend to have a positive dynamic. According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food the wheat exports will amount to 16.6 million tons in 2015/2016 MY while in 2014/2015 MY Ukraine exported only 11,1 million tons.

Barley

Barley has been the main forage grain in Ukraine for most of the past 10 years in terms of consumption. Spring barley accounts for over 90% of the barley crop. It is typically planted in April and harvested in August in the main barley growing region – eastern Ukraine. It is the frequently used crop for the spring reseeding of damaged or destroyed winter harvests. The area is inversely related, to some degree, to the area of winter wheat. Winter barley is the least cold-tolerant of the winter cereals and its production is restricted to the extreme south. In the season 2013/2014 its production was 7 mn t. (- 7,41% to 2012/2013).

High yield in 2014 and limitation of external markets might be an incentive for overall reduction in 2015. Acreage of winter barley is by 5,4% less than in 2014.

Growth of productivity allowed to significantly increasing the volume of foreign trade in barley (+44% in 2014 compared with the previous year). However, the export geography of barley has not changed considerably. Saudi Arabia remains the main market (about 64% of total exports). Also, China appeared in the ranking of top 10 importers of Ukrainian barley (179,1 thousand tons in 2014). Considering the development of relations with China, we can expect intensification of trade. Besides, the volume of sales to the EU has increased by 9 times compared to 2013.

After the huge spike of exports in 2014, in 2015 the amount of foreign trade on the barley market remains nearly at the same level (a slight decrease in 3% is expected in 2015/2016 MY compared to the previous one).

Maize

Maize is the third most important feed cereal in Ukraine. The planting zone has increased despite a number of constraints, such as obsolete and insufficient harvesting equipment, the high cost of production, especially post-harvest drying costs, and pilferage. The main growing region is eastern and southern Ukraine, although rainfall in some oblasts (regions) in the extreme south is too low to support growth of this crop. Maize is usually planted in late April or early May. Harvest starts in mid-September and is nearing complete by early November. Only 25-50% of general maize area is harvested for grain, the remainder being cut for silage, normally throughout August. In 2013 its production went up to 30,9mn t. (+47.69% to 2012).

As in the case of barley, decrease in acreage is expected. Mostly, the transition to production of soybeans is going to take place.

The European Union and Egypt remain the main markets for Ukrainian maize with shares of 46% and 12% from the total volume of supply in 2014, respectively. Tighter cooperation with China made it possible to increase the volume of exports up to 1.6 mln. tons in 2014, which is 15 times more than in 2013, and brought this country to the third position in the rating of top 10 importers of Ukrainian maize. The cooperation with China continued in 2015 when Ukraine became a top maize supplier to China in the first half of the year leaving the USA behind.

Industrial crops are sugar beet, sunflower and rapeseed. Numerous farms specialize in production of the first two crops.

Sugar beet

Sugar beet is primarily grown in central and western regions. The beet is planted at the end April - beginning of May and harvested from mid-September until the end of October.

The Ukrainian sugar industry contributes about 1.2 percent to national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with 2010 revenues estimated at about USD 1.67 billion. While the area under sugar beets – the main source of raw material for sugar production in Ukraine – declined from 1.6 million hectares in the 1990s to about 600 000 hectares in 2010, sugar beet yields have been increasing since 1999 thanks to improved access to capital, the introduction of hybrid seeds, improved application of fertilizer and crop protection chemicals.

Ukrainian farmers obtain higher sugar beet yields today than during the Soviet era. Sugar beet production has also been consolidating and the average size of sugar beet-growing farms has increased. The share of rural households 4 in total sugar beet production has declined dramatically – from 15 percent in 2006 to 8 percent in 2010. After a sharp drop in the early 1990s, average sugar production in Ukraine stabilized at about 1.8 million tons per year in recent years and equaled estimated domestic demand. The primary reasons for focusing on vegetable growing are the many possibilities for selling produce, either fresh or for processing, and the availability of manual labor instead of necessary equipment.

Sugar beet production requires a substantial amount of manual labor and remains vital option for small household farms with limited access to the farming machinery.

In recent years, the traditional zonal pattern for growing major agricultural crops has altered. Thus, for instance, sugar beet, a crop grown principally in the forest-steppe zone, has progressed further south and is now grown by Kherson farmers. However, the areas sown to these crops are not significant and the yields are much lower than in the traditional growing areas. In 2010, sugar beet planting area continued to shrink, with the exception of Rivne, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytskiy Oblasts, where a slight escalation was registered. In southern regions, no sugar beet production was reported.

On April 14, 2015 The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has increased the minimum price of beet sugar for the 2015/16 agricultural year (September – August) by 36.7% compared to the previous year, to UAH 6,454.73 per tonne (value added tax not included).

According to cabinet resolution No. 189 of April 8, the minimum price of sugar beet this season will be 29.8% higher – UAH 445.87 per tonne (VAT not included). The document also sets the quota for sugar production to supply to the domestic market (quota A): it was reduced to UAH 1.72 million tons from 1.811 million tons in 2014/15 agri-year. The minimum price of sugar for the 2014/15 agri-year was increased by 1% compared to the previous season, to UAH 4,722.68 per tonne (VAT not included) and the price of sugar beet was increased by 1.6%, to UAH 343.55 per tonne.

Sunflower

Over recent years, the market of sunflower has experienced a simultaneous intensification and extensification of production. UCAB experts do not expect a significant increase in acreage under sunflower in 2015 and marginal growth is estimated at 3-5%. Further growth will be possible due to increase of the productivity, but these trends are doubtful in 2015 due to general negative situation in the economy.

Even despite 4% increase of acreage, the output of 2014 decreased by 7,7% to 10,1 million tons because of the very dry summer in southern Ukraine. In general, processing companies reported insufficient supply of seeds, because agricultural producers refrained from selling sunflower seeds to the instability of the purchase prices in hryvnia. Because Ukrainian processing capacities reach 13-14 million tons of seeds per year, processors to switch to processing of soybeans and rapeseeds.

At the end of February, the Verkhovna Rada has registered the bill on amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On rates of export duties on certain types of oil crops seeds“ (to ensure the competitiveness of oilseed producers) No.1837, which provides an abolition of 16% export duty on sunflower seeds. Processing companies, naturally, opposed this, arguing that these changes will support seed exports, greater undercapacity and will lead to a reduction in added value, which stays in the country due to processing.

China is the biggest importer of Ukrainian sunflower oil so far. In 2015 the part of Ukrainian oil in Chinese import was 85%.

Soybeans

In 2014, the acreage under soybeans increased by 32%. Agricultural producers gave more preference to soybean instead of maize in MY 2014/15, which was caused by low profitability of maize in 2013/14 MY. Favorable weather conditions also allowed obtaining a good harvest. The trend continued in 2015, while the maize exports decreased by 21.16%, the soybeans exports grew by 15.74%.

Ukraine is gradually increasing the production of soybean oil. It is influenced by the increase of demand for soybean meal, and also by the excess of capacity to produce oil due to lack of sunflower seeds. UCAB forecasts an increase in the production of soybean oil to 165 thousand tons in 2014/2015 MY, twice more than in the 2012/2013 MY.

However, in 2014, the Verkhovna Rada registered a draft law No. 4693, which was supposed to increase the processing volumes of soybeans by introducing an export tax of 15%. In fact, the plan was to introduce the mechanism similar to the market of sunflower seeds, but the draft was rejected. In the last few years, 83-85% of the soybean oil production was export oriented. Along with the growth in output the share of exports increases too.

Increase of soybean production led to increase in the volume of exports by 57% in 2014 as compared to 2013. Despite the reduction in supplies to the EU, this group of states remains the main foreign contractor of Ukrainian soybeans. Also, a significant expansion of the role of Asian countries in foreign trade is worth noting. While in 2013 this region accounted for about 21% of the country’s exports of soybeans, in 2014 this figure constituted 46%. There were no deliveries to China in 2014. In the long run, expansion of trade with China is also expected.
   
In June 2015, Ukraine became a part of Danube Soya association. This organization operates in Europe and provides support for soya producers who grow non-GM soybeans.

Rapeseeds

The area under rape declined by 12% in 2014, but the yields, as in the case of soybeans, increased, which allowed to harvest only 6% less than in 2013. Export is the main distribution channel of Ukrainian rapeseeds.

According to the forecast, in 2014/2015 MY, the processing share in the structure of distribution will increase up to 185 thousand tons (+92.7% compared to 2013/2014 MY) or up to 8% of the total supply. As in the case of soybeans, in 2014, the initiative to introduce the export duties on rapeseeds to increase domestic processing was considered, but it was also rejected.

From a technological point of view, a very small share of enterprises in Ukraine can produce a rape oil because it contains aggressive erucic acid in its structure and, therefore, the equipment has to be resistant to the substance. Also, biofuel programs that are able to stimulate the processing of rapeseeds into biodiesel are not developed in Ukraine.

The geography of foreign trade in rape is quite concentrated. Top 5 countries in rating of the leading external contractors for exports of rape occupied a 98% share in the total exports from Ukraine in 2014 (97% in 2013). As in the case of soybeans, the importance of Asia is growing, but at a slower rate. In 2013, 541,5 thousand tons (23%) of export deliveries accounted for the region, while in 2014 this figure amounted to 686,2 thousand tons (34%). It should be noted that in 2014 the first delivery of rape to China was made. Its volume constituted only 0,4 thousand tons.

Despite the fact that China is a very promising market for Ukrainian rape oil producers, in 2015/2016 the exports are expected to be rather minor as China has accumulated about 6 million tons of oil produced during a support program for local farmers in 2009-2016.   

Milk

Dairy farming is one of the major livestock industries in Ukraine and, before crisis, this segment demonstrated a trend towards its active development, but the situation in the dairy sector became more complicated in 2014. The biggest problem for the dairy sector was the loss of the Russian market, which accounted for about 80% of exports of dairy products. Consequently, the number of cows began to decline rapidly. In 2014, the number of cows decreased by 3.2% — to 2.36 million heads. In 2014, milk production in Ukraine amounted to 11,23 million tons, which is by 0.4% more than in 2013. There was also an increase of milk production by agricultural enterprises and a decrease of its production by households. The share of industrial milk production increased by 24% and its supplies to processing — up to 52%.

Growth of productivity of cows became a significant achievement of the dairy sector. During the past five years yields have risen by 32% in 2014; average annual yield per cow constituted 5228 kg. However, in 2015, slight decrease in productivity of cows is possible due to the rapid growth of input prices.

According to the forecasts, milk production is going to decrease by 7% - to 10.4 million tons - in 2015. Exports of dairy products are going to decline to 0.35 million tons in milk equivalent and imports — to 0.15 million tons.

As a result of sanctions, the exports of dairy products dropped to 0.5 million tons in milk equivalent. In value terms, exports of dairy products from Ukraine amounted to USD 324 million, while this figure was USD 515 million in 2013. There was a reduction in cheese exports — to 19.5 thousand tons (threefold). However, there was an increase in sales of milk powder and butter to foreign markets in 2014.

Export of milk powder from Ukraine is quite diversified although Russian market occupied a big share in the structure in previous years. In 2014, after the Russina ban, Kazakhstan (20%), Bangladesh (12%), Armenia (8%) and Georgia (7%) became the main markets for Ukrainian milk powder.

Today, the main challenge for the dairy industry is finding new export markets and developing the existing markets. To do this, it is important to develop a systemic state export policy that requires work with each particular country of destination. One of the perspectives for Ukraine is also an export-oriented organic milk production, as more and more people pay attention to health and are willing to pay for quality products. The demand for dairy products for baby food is also increasing around the world, especially in China.

On January 10th, 2016 the European Commission granted Ukrainian milk processing companies access to the EU market. The first country to receive Ukrainian dairy products was Bulgaria.

After the crisis, demand for dairy products in Ukraine is going to recover, so it is very important to keep potential of production and processing of milk in the domestic market.

Meat

Meat production in Ukraine has demonstrated a consistent upward trend in the last years. Despite the difficult situation in 2014, meat production at all types of farms increased by 4.7% compared to 2013 and amounted to 2.37 million tons in slaughter weight. Pork production increased by almost 6% to 753.6 thousand tons and poultry production increased by 6.6% to 1.17 million tons. In 2014, it was produced 404.8 thousand tons of beef and veal, which is 1.8% less than in 2013.

The increase in exports of meat was the positive dynamics in 2014. For the first time since many years, Ukraine has had a visible positive trade balance. In 2010, Ukraine exported only 46.5 thousand tons of meat and imported 267 thousand tons. In 2014, the volume of exports amounted to 205.6 thousand tons and the volume of imports decreased to 93.5 thousand tons.

While in 2013 the share of imported meat in the structure of the consumption in Ukraine was about 10%, in 2014 it decreased to 4.2%. General meat consumption in Ukraine decreased by 2.2% to 2.42 million tons in 2014.

A very important achievement of the poultry sector was its access to the European market. In 2013, Ukraine got the permission to export poultry products to the EU followed by the autonomous trade preferences in April 2014 that have made poultry exports under EU import quotas economically attractive. According to the results of 2014, about 17 thousand tons of poultry meat were exported to the European Union, which amounts to USD 51.8 million. It is worth noting that parts of best quality were supplied to the EU market at a higher price. As for beef and pork, the permission to supply these products to the European market is still missing. Nevertheless, Ukraine is improving this direction, because it has quotas for duty-free exports to the EU in the amount of 12 thousand tons of beef and 20 thousand tons of pork. In addition, European quality assurance of Ukrainian products facilitates its access to other markets.

In 2014, the main export market for Ukrainian beef was Russia, with the share of 64%. However, Russia has been banning exports from Ukraine regularly and this led to a decline in exports of beef. Beef was also exported to Belarus, Azerbaijan, Moldova and other countries.

On January 1st, 2016 Russia completely banned food products import from Ukraine. It is expected that meat producers will be affected due to the lack of other promising export markets.

Mineral fertilizers

Ukraine is one of the world leaders in fertilizers production, specializing in nitrogen fertilizers. Ukraine’s share on the global mineral fertilizer market is 8%. There are 8 big mineral fertilizer producers; 6 of them specialize in production of nitrogen fertilizers and form a foundation of Ukrainian chemical export: plants from Horlivka and Odesa possess around 24% of production; Cherkasy, Dniprodzerzinsk - about 22% and Severodonetsk - up to 10%. Annually they produce only 3,6 million tons of urea. Some part of this urea is sold internally, i.e. on Ukrainian domestic market. Currently, Ukraine exports about 280.000 tons of urea and 130.000 tons of ammonia nitrate per month. It is estimated then the projected volume of domestic mineral fertilizers market will double by 2017.

The largest share of the Ukrainian market of mineral fertilizers belongs to ammonium nitrate. In total consumption of fertilizers its share amounted from 45 to 50%. In 2014, the Ukrainian market of ammonium nitrate decreased to 1 535 000 tons. The main reason was the reduction of nitrate production in Ukraine by 34% due to the outage of Severodonetsk Azot and Styrol plants, as well as decrease of the load of Rivne Azot plant in June and July.

Due to the anti-dumping restrictions against nitrate of Russian origin, it almost was not supplied to Ukraine in April-October. However, the annual imports declined only by 10%. At the end of the year the EuroChem company found a way to bypass these restrictions: instead of the standard ammonium nitrate it began to import a granular ammonium nitrate.

In 2015, the market volume of ammonium nitrate increased by 1,7-1,75 million tons. This became possible through increased volumes of Ukrainian production and reduced prices for ammonium nitrate. Despite the economic crisis, the need for classical nitrate remains stable. Small and medium-sized farms, for which nitrate and carbamide-ammonia mixture (CAM) are too expensive, are going to be the main consumers of ammonium nitrate.

A cheaper alternative to ammonium nitrate is ammonium sulfate. The excess of acidity is compensated by the lowest price among the other solid nitrogenous fertilizers and the availability of easily digestible form of sulfur. In 2014, there was a jump in the consumption of ammonium sulfate (+77%). The market volume reached 188 000 tons; one of the factors for such success was the deficit of nitrate. As in 2015 the production of nitrate increased, the demand for ammonium sulfate reduced slightly but remained at the level of 160-180 thousand tons. The biggest share of ammonium sulfate is supplied to Ukraine by independent importers.

The second largest consumable fertilizer in Ukraine is NPK (a complex fertilizer of different formulas, of which the most popular are the ammonium nitrate phosphate fertilizer (NPK 16:16:16), and diammofoska (NPK 10:26:26). Considering that the Sumykhimprom plant has successfully introduced these brands, the growth of domestic consumption of NPK in Ukraine by 63% is natural. In 2015, the Ukrainian market of complexed fertilizers experienced a slight decrease (-5%).

According to the forecasts, the market volume of CAM increased to 500 thousand tons in 2015. A more substantial growth is not impossible, the key to which is the diversification of CAM supply sources. Besides two traditional suppliers, OSTCHEM and Eurochem, CAM importers of Belarussian origin and Ukrainian non-industrial producers of CAMp (products based on carbamide-ammonium mixture) are going to play a prominent role in the market.

Ammonia is a vulnerable position in the nomenclature offered by agricultural chemists in 2015. On the one hand, the application volume of ammonia annually grows. In 2014 it increased by 20% to 125 thousand tons. On the other hand, the cost of ammonia, complicated application procedure and the short period of its application restrained the market growth in 2015. Nevertheless, the features of ammonia make it irreplaceable in the autumn field works.

Total dependence of the Ukrainian agrochemical industry on the imported raw materials and the high proportion of imported fertilizers on the market dictate the dependence of Ukrainian prices on the world market prices. Since the inflation and devaluation rate is unpredictable, many export-oriented agricultural enterprises forecast the prices for mineral fertilizers on the basis of the US dollar equivalent.

On the world markets of fertilizers a reduction in prices was a dominant trend in 2015. High harvests in previous years, a decrease in the cultivation of “fuel" crops due to the oil prices decrease, reduction of production costs of fertilizers and surplus of the market will contribute to the low price level of fertilizers during the year.

Investment in agriculture

Investment in agriculture is crucial for the economic development and food security of Ukraine. Today agriculture is one of the most promising sectors of the country’s economy: it is a notable player on the global agricultural market, a source of foreign currency inflow to the country, 8% of the GDP and formal employer for 15% of the population of Ukraine. Global food crisis is also favorable for investment in agricultural production in Ukraine.

Investment activity is regulated in Ukraine with numerous laws and amendments, nevertheless the legal regulations are imperfect. Ukrainian legislation de facto establishes a national treatment regime for foreign investors, i.e. neither foreign nor domestic investments are prioritized, however, the greatest shortcoming of the investment regulation in Ukraine is an absence of state protection guarantees for foreign investments. Unilateral changes of the legislation, instability of legislative base, unclear legal definitions and declarative character of laws and state programs of the agricultural sector development, as well as imperfections of national statistical data also create obstacles for the investment activity in Ukraine.

Autonomous EU trade preferences for Ukraine: first results for agricultural sector

Few positive changes in investment regulation in Ukraine took place over the recent times. Signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union opened an access to European markets for Ukrainian agri-food products.

Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine was simultaneously ratified by the European Parliament and Parliament of Ukraine on the 16th of September, 2014. However, bilateral implementation of the trade component was postponed for political reasons until January 201616. Instead, EU introduced preferential trade regime within a wider package of economic and financial assistance to Ukraine. Relevant regulation (EC N 374/2014) came into an effect as of April 23, 2014. Trade preferences are based on the agreement on liberalised access to the EU market under the Association Agreement, which should have been implemented in the first year of free trade regime between the EU and Ukraine.

Harmonization of the Ukrainian legislation with the European one is expected to intensify international trade in Ukraine. However, harmonization requires stricter regulation of trade with agricultural products by private households, which might negatively affect private households in a short-term perspective.

Implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), i.e., bilateral reduction or removal of import duties on the majority of commodities, starting from January, 2016, will increase competition at the domestic market of Ukraine. The above-mentioned study of the APD demonstrates that reduction of Ukraine’s import duties could increase imports up to 7% largely due to increased supplies of beverages, vegetable oils and fats, meat, mineral or chemical fertilizers, animal oils and fats, and sugar. Hence, it seems that gains obtained by Ukraine are likely to be higher than for the EU at least in the medium- and long-term.

In conclusion, introduction of the autonomous trade preferences brought first promising results in terms of increased exports of to the EU and also contributed to the improvement of food quality and safety standards and, thus, opened international export possibilities for Ukraine. Delayed implementation of the DCFTA provides more time for the government to implement all required legislative changes. The Ukrainian agribusiness should adapt their production processes and standards to the EU requirements to strengthen their competitiveness at the EU market, as well as to maintain and expand their positions on the domestic market.