The implementation of radical reforms in the dairy sector is a necessary condition for the opening of new markets and increasing the demand for Ukrainian dairy products, said Oleksii Pavlenko, the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.

According to the Minister, this year has proven not the best one for the dairy industry. Given the reduced demand for Ukrainian dairy products, both on the domestic and foreign markets, in January – October 2015, the industry had been facing a reduction in the factory output of dairy products by 10.7%.

“As of today, 75% (7014,9 thousand tons) of milk is produced by the rural population. A part of it is purchased by manufacturers for further processing. But 86% of this milk is of the second grade, which in Europe and the U.S. is not allowed for processing. As a result, the products thereof can only be supplied to the domestic market,” the Minister noted.

As Oleksii Pavlenko believes, the dairy industry has great prospects, but without an appropriate reform, it will remain uncompetitive in foreign markets. In order to be successful, dairy farms should significantly improve the quality of dairy products by the means of improving the technological processes of production capacities and the reconstruction of the industrial facilities. In particular, the compliance with production procedures is a mandatory requirement for export of dairy products to the EU countries.

“For its part, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy took a number of steps to open new opportunities for development of the dairy industry. We are actively lobbying the interests of Ukrainian producers on the international arena and are pushing the boundaries for Ukrainian dairy products to be sold on foreign markets”, the Minister stressed.

The joint efforts have enabled 18 Ukrainian companies to get a permission to export products to China, and 8 – to Kazakhstan. Another 10 Ukrainian companies have successfully passed the European audit and expect that the access be opened to the European market from January 10, 2016.

“The Ministry has not only set the goal to open new markets for our producers, but also to modernize production, to increase the quality of dairy products and to improve the production processes to a higher level. Successful implementation of these initiatives is only possible through the active participation of all the stakeholders. We sincerely believe that this would help dairy products to find their consumers,” Oleksii Pavlenko added.