Interview of Vitaliy Koval, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine
The Netherlands is not only important trade partner of Ukraine but one of key donors for humanitarian demining projects. Also about scaling up our exports to Africa and Asia, prospects for cooperation with the EU, and the damage caused by the war with Russia.
Source
This article is a summary of the Interivew of Tetiana Stelmak for The Ukrainian Review
European integration is one of the priorities of the Ukrainian Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food
Vitaliy Koval: We are currently conducting simulation sessions, which are a direct preparation for the official EU screening. As part of this preparation, we have the opportunity to see and understand how the screening will take place in the sections for which the Ministry of Agrarian Policy is responsible. And also to prepare more thoroughly to ensure that the result of this screening is the best possible.
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It is important for us to move towards European standards, understanding the pain points of Ukrainian business and helping it in these transformations. At the same time, businesses focused on exporting to the EU have their finger on the pulse and have long been investing in their production facilities in accordance with EU standards.
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This is a long-term and mutual process – Ukraine is required to bring its agricultural production standards in line with those in the EU, while the European side also faces a big challenge – to formulate new terms of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and include such a large, in a good way, player in the agricultural sector as Ukraine. At the same time, Ukraine’s accession to the EU will ensure Europe’s food independence from third markets, such as the United States, South America, etc.
Key partners of Ukraine’s agricultural sector
Vitaliy Koval: In 2024, more than half of all exports of agricultural products from Ukraine – 52% – went to the European Union. The largest importers were Spain ($2.7 billion), the Netherlands ($1.6 billion), Italy ($1.3 billion), and Germany ($1.2 billion).
We, as a government, always stand for constructive approach. The Ministry of Agrarian Policy is in constant dialog with our European partners. We are looking for solutions that, on the one hand, will provide Ukrainian farmers with access to the market, and on the other hand, will take into account the interests of our neighbors. This is not about competition, but about shared responsibility for Europe’s food security.
Ukraine has already become a part of the European economic space – not only because of trade volumes, but also because of a common vision, rules of the game and mutual respect.
Read also: Dutch-Ukrainian Agricultural Cooperation
In total, about 2 million hectares of agricultural land remain potentially mined
Vitaliy Koval: We lost about 20.5% of agricultural land due to the war. Returning land to cultivation is a complex process. Mine clearance is the first step, but it is also necessary to restore soil fertility and conduct laboratory tests for heavy metals and other contaminants.
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Thanks to cooperation with international partners, we managed to attract more than USD 700 million in equivalent for humanitarian demining projects for 2022-2027. Key donors include: The United States, Switzerland, Norway, EU countries, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Germany, and others.
Read also: Subsidy and Funding of the Dutch Goverment
After the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia began actively exporting grain and other products from the occupied territories and selling them as its own.
Vitaliy Koval: At various levels and international platforms, we emphasize the need to block Russia’s trade in stolen Ukrainian grain at the international level. Every year, Russia steals 5 million tons of grain from the occupied territories of Ukraine and, using technical means, passes this grain off as its own. This grain is then shipped to the markets of the Middle East and Africa, and the proceeds are used to finance military operations on the territory of Ukraine.
Ukraine's export strategy and focus on value-added products
Vitaliy Koval: Ukraine’s transition from an agrarian to an agro-industrial country, deep processing, production of value-added products, and opening of new markets are the priorities of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
We are faced with the task of moving from a raw material model of the economy to a value-added model.
The agricultural sector has significant additional unrealized potential to increase exports of value-added products.
If we talk about what products will drive export growth, it is primarily two areas: processed foods and livestock products. In processing, we still have significant potential to increase oilseed processing.
Support third world countries that depend on Ukrainian grain
Vitaliy Koval: As part of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Grain from Ukraine initiative, since 2022, we have already shipped more than 282 thousand tons of agricultural products (wheat and flour, corn, peas, oil) to 13 countries in Africa and Asia: Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Yemen, Nigeria, Sudan, Palestine, Malawi, Mozambique, Djibouti, Mauritania, DRC, and Syria. According to WFP, this has provided more than 11 million hungry people in Africa and Asia. As a result of the three Grain from Ukraine summits, donor funds worth more than USD 330 million were raised.
After the 3rd International Conference on Food Security “Grain from Ukraine”, which took place in Kyiv on November 23, 2024, the geography of the initiative has already been expanded, in particular to Syria, which I personally visited in late 2024.