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Vitaliy Kovalchuk, co-owner of the Molokia company, stated in an interview with delo.ua that there is no fake milk in Ukraine, but there is low-quality milk – soured with antibiotic residues after the treatment of cows.
And unscrupulous processing companies make certain manipulations with such raw materials in order to use them in the production of dairy products. At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that there are also milk-containing dairy products on the labels of which this is not indicated – for example, spread, which is sold as butter. Sour cream product can be labeled as “sour cream”, although it contains almost no cream, or no milk fat at all, and only skimmed milk is used. Cottage cheese, to which vegetable fibers are added and produced using various kinds of “improvers”. But now such products are at least not called cheese, butter or sour cream, and this is already a step in the right direction, but they still enter the market, in particular to places with a low level of control, where they are sold without proper accounting, often for cash.
It should be noted that dairy products from Ukraine are not currently included in the European list of sensitive products for the import of which quotas may be introduced from June 5, 2025. It is believed that the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area create a basis for closer economic ties. The next step is to insist on permanent tariff liberalization and the elimination of any administrative barriers that hinder free trade in dairy products.
The next round of negotiations on trade policy and the import of Ukrainian agricultural goods to the EU will take place next week. The negotiations will be conducted by Ukraine’s trade representative Taras Kachka and representatives of the European Commission. It is reminded that the EU may again impose restrictions on the export of some Ukrainian agricultural products: honey, corn, bran, groats, sugar, eggs and poultry meat. A fierce discussion is expected around sugar quotas. The import of Ukrainian poultry meat to the EU also remains an acute issue, which, according to the European Commission, should be supplied not by agricultural holdings, but by small and medium-sized producers.
Earlier, the ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia appealed to the European Commission with a call to cancel autonomous trade measures for Ukraine altogether. At the same time, prices for raw milk began to decline in Ukraine – as reported earlier, purchase prices for raw milk decreased at the beginning of January under the influence of reduced demand from dairy processing enterprises during the New Year holidays. But due to the increase in production costs, a further increase in prices is likely during 2025.
According to the Association of Milk Producers, the average purchase price of extra grade milk as of January 6 was UAH 19.10/kg excluding VAT. Higher grade costs an average of UAH 18.35/kg excluding VAT (-35 kopecks). The average price for first grade milk was UAH 17.65/kg excluding VAT and did not change compared to the price in the first half of December. Accordingly, the weighted average price of three grades was UAH 18.37/kg excluding VAT, which is 32 kopecks less than a month ago. The drop in prices for raw milk in Ukraine at the beginning of the year was influenced by the fall in butter prices and a decrease in purchasing activity in the market, which is traditionally observed during the New Year holidays. Ukrainian companies reduced the volume of butter exports in December due to lower prices for the product in foreign markets. In particular, if at the end of September 2024 the price of butter in Western Europe reached 9625 US dollars per ton, then as of January 3, 2025 it fell to 7350 US dollars per ton. Surpluses of raw milk appeared on the domestic market, and the maximum prices for extra and higher grade milk went down due to a reduction in demand from dairy processing enterprises.
In general, if we talk about the industry in general, the milk processing industry of Ukraine is deprived of effective state support. In EU countries, competitors receive partial compensation for the cost of purchasing new equipment and access to cheap lending, while Ukrainian producers compete with them with their last efforts. In this regard, Arsen Didur, executive director of the Union of Dairy Enterprises, emphasized in an interview with “Ekonomichna Pravda” that if Ukraine needs a modern dairy sector, then, for example, a program of partial compensation for the cost of purchasing new equipment should be launched. Otherwise, butter will cost 500 hryvnias per kilogram on the shelves because foreign manufacturers will dictate prices inside Ukraine. There is state support for the dairy sector for 2025 — one billion hryvnias, but this is not a protected budget item, it is a special fund. The funds will be available if the state replenishes this fund from the lease of its agricultural lands.