Ukraine’s pork imports
Ukraine imports 7 times more pork than it exports, according to the data provided by the State Statistics Service. Over the first three months of the year, Ukraine imported $ 13 million worth of pork, while pork exports during the same period amounted $ 1.9 million. In monetary terms, imports exceed exports seven times.
According to the Director of the Ukrainian Association of Retailers Oleksiy Doroshenko, Ukraine is already dependent on imported pork. "We export some pork, but mostly in live weight. To Georgia, for example. And so, we have been import-dependent on pork for many years. In general, of all types of meat, Ukraine fully provides for its needs only in chicken meat," said the expert.
One of the reasons for such situation is African swine fever, which forces farmers to slaughter livestock. Even though the companies invest in increasing industrial pork production, it is expected to take another 3-5 years to meet domestic demand. According to the forecast of scientists of the Institute of Agrarian Economics, the decrease in gross livestock production in 2021 will be only -0.5% against -3.1% in 2020.
Source: Agropolit