“The Free Trade Area has started to work between Ukraine and the EU from January 1^st, 2016. This step opens opportunities for the expansion of agrarian markets and of the relations with the Western countries, including the Kingdom of the Netherlands”, Oleksii Pavlenko, the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, stressed.

The Minister stressed that trade cooperation between the two countries develops dynamically. The turnover of agricultural products has comprised $680 million in 2015. Out of this amount, Ukraine exported goods to the Netherlands for the total of $580 million and imported about $100 million.

The major export items were cereals ($315,4 million), oil  ($135 million), oil seeds ($45 million), meat and  by-products ($38,8 million) and food industry residues and wastes ($34 million). At the same time, Ukraine mostly imported from the Netherlands cocoa beans and chocolate ($24,7 million), live and bulb plants ($8,3 million ), juices ($5,9 million), products from grain and cereals ($5,1 million), gelatin, peptones and dextrin ($4,3 million).

Oleksii Pavlenko noted the significant growth in the amount of trade between the two countries for the first month of the current year.

The turnover accounted for $98 million (in the first month of 2016), exceeding the rate for the same period of 2015 by $60 million. Moreover, such rapid growth has become possible only due to the increased export supplies from Ukraine. The export, in January, accounted for $81,8 million, exceeding the previous year’s rate by $51 million.  The import increased by $8,85 million and accounted for $16,3 million.

“The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a highly developed agrarian country, one of the leading countries in this sphere. The use of innovative methods, the meticulous care for the soil, application of mineral fertilizers and high technologies has allowed the Netherlands to hold the first position in terms of the growth rate in agricultural output. Thus, it becomes obvious that the cooperation with the Netherlands implies not only the deepening of trade ties but also the chance to learn the successful experience of agricultural development. I believe that Ukraine with its fertile soil and hardworking people with the assistance of Dutch experts has great chances to follow the successful path of the Netherlands,” the Minister stressed.