Can Ukraine really offer the EU only agriculture?

About half of the total value of Ukraine’s exports to the EU in 2023 will be agricultural goods. The most significant growth in Ukrainian exports to the EU was also due to the agricultural sector, says Yana Okhrimenko, senior economist at the Centre for Economic Strategy (CES).

Under normal circumstances, this would mean that the Ukrainian economy has an advantage in the production of agricultural goods. However, trade liberalisation did not take place under normal conditions, but during the war, when many industrial facilities were destroyed and domestic demand in Ukraine increased, the economist emphasises. And exports of these goods to the EU declined. Therefore, under the current circumstances, this does not mean that the Ukrainian mining and heavy industries are less competitive.

According to Okhrimenko, if we take the average value of goods exported by Ukraine to the EU in 2013-2021, grain will account for 14.7%, and iron and steel – 12.9%. At the same time, grain exports grew by more than 150% during this time, while metal exports fell by almost 65%.

Source: BBC Ukraine.