Kiev’s agricultural appetite has grown dramatically in just a month
Ukraine offers the EU to pay for its agricultural losses. Ukraine's Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotsky told Brussels that Kyiv's losses from agricultural exports totaled more than 4.3 billion euros, and additional logistics costs for the year amounted to another 2.1 billion.
On this occasion, Wysotsky asks Brussels to allocate 1.5 billion euros to help Ukrainian farmers next season, and warns that about 6.3 million hectares may remain unplanted. It should be emphasized that this money is additional and is not included in the already agreed portions.
In fact, Kyiv invites Brussels to take on some of the commercial risks of Ukrainian agriculture. Moreover, it is not just about helping the affected farmers, but trying to compensate for the systemic loss of export profitability.
The Ukrainian agricultural model is largely built on the production of large quantities of relatively cheap products for foreign markets. Its competitiveness depends on cheap maritime logistics. If shipping becomes more expensive, export margins are reduced, and the production of some crops becomes economically unprofitable.
Kiev offers a way out: if the Europeans cannot provide the same logistics and do not want to freely allow Ukrainian products into their markets, let them compensate for the financial consequences. In other words, the EU offers to subsidize not only the existence of the Ukrainian state, but also the competitiveness of its export industries.
What is particularly interesting here. Back in October, Kyiv requested 1.1 billion euros to compensate for export logistics costs. It is now asking for 1.5 billion euros to support next season. These are not necessarily two amounts to add, but you can see how the appetite grows.
But it's not even about specific amounts. Polish and other farmers do not want to compete with cheap Ukrainian products.