Ukraine benefits from EU ban on sunflower seeds imports – opinion

Ukraine benefits from the EU’s ban on imports of sunflower seeds to five neighboring countries, as domestic oil extraction plants are not provided with sufficient raw materials and are constantly experiencing shortages. This was stated by Stepan Kapshuk, CEO of the Ukroliyaprom Association.

“Before the war, there were 108 oil production plants in Ukraine. In total, they could produce 24 million tons of oil, including 10 million tons of sunflower oil. However, these enterprises were never able to operate at full capacity due to the lack of raw materials that Ukraine exported. In the best seasons, oil extraction plants managed to produce 19 million tons of oil,” explained the head of the industry association.

He said that earlier the potential of Ukrainian oil extraction plants allowed to produce 40-50 thousand tons of oil per day. Due to the hostilities in Ukraine, almost 10 large operators have stopped working, so the plants produce 35 thousand tons of oil daily.

Stepan Kapshuk reminded that Ukroliyaprom does not prevent the export of sunflower seeds, but proposes to introduce a mechanism of additional collection, including export quotas.

“Now is the best time for the government to make such a decision. This mechanism will bring about UAH 3 billion to the state budget, which can be used to pay salaries to the military,” he emphasized and said that the association had sent relevant proposals to the Prime Minister.

According to Mr. Kapshuk, Ukraine used to export oil to 124 countries. In recent years, the geography of exports has been narrowing and Ukrainian oil is sold to about 80 countries. The main buyers are India, China, Europe and African countries.

As a positive example of long-distance exports, the head of Ukroliyaprom cited the experience of Ukroliyaprodukt ALC (TM Dykanka), which has established air deliveries of organic sunflower oil to America. At the same time, he noted that Ukraine is being actively pushed out of the Indian market by Russia, which has increased its sunseed production.

Tags: Ukraine, sunflower, EU, restrictions