Ukraine’s apple producers anticipate one of the best yields this year

Recently, the editorial team of Fructidor had a chance to learn more about today’s fruit business in Ukraine. 

At the trade fair Fruit Attraction in Madrid (Spain), Alena Kolomoitseva, International Trade Center Ukraine - ITC - General Director, affirmed that this year’s weather conditions were favorable for the majority of apple producers in the country. Sometimes, Ukraine suffers from hail and early frosts in spring or heavy rains in June, but this year the weather was excellent. Due to this, producers project one of the best yields compared to the previous years. 

“However, in war conditions, fruit production in the country has changed. There is no production developing in the occupied territories, many farms there were destroyed. In some orchards there are mines, so working there is strictly prohibited. The same situation is in the northern regions which now are liberated, Kyiv, Kharkiv… Farmers still cannot carry out necessary treatments, cut the trees, and so on.”, continues Mrs Kolomoitseva. 

“Apple production in non-occupied Ukraine is concentrated in the western and central parts of the country: Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Chernivtsi, Chernihiv… They grow, they have yield, lots of farmers carried out necessary treatments. The situation in non-occupied territories is okay, even though businesses were also affected by war: exchange rates increased, the supply chains were disrupted, in addition to serious logistic issues, not only because of lack of trucks but also due to high insurance rates for traveling by roads in Ukraine, and long queues at the border. By the way, input supplies from Ukraine are fully forbidden.”

Concerning the other fruits grown in Ukraine, Mrs Kolomoitseva emphasized that in the south there are sweet cherries, while blueberries are concentrated in the north-west. “Blueberry business in Ukraine is young, and producers expect higher volumes in the next few years, as the plants continue to mature. Meanwhile, the nut business there is quite small and very specific. 98% of nut exports come from private households. It is not concentrated in one certain region but all over Ukraine.'', concluded the Director.

If you wish to learn more about business opportunities in Ukraine’s agri sector, please send your inquiry.