Amidst the ongoing war, Ukraine has invested a substantial half-billion dollars in imported vegetables. From March 2022 to August 2023, Ukrainian consumers supported foreign vegetable producers with $556 million. It is precisely mirroring the total expenditure on vegetable imports during this period. These figures were disclosed by Evgen Kuzin, a fruit and vegetable market analyst and international consultant for the FAO, at the International Practical Forum "Intensive Vegetable Growing: Open and Closed Ground."
Kuzin expressed apprehension, deeming such expenditure inappropriate during wartime. However, he highlighted an important point that the growth in imports was prevalent even before the full-scale Russian aggression, increasing annually by 40%. Even potatoes and onions were imported.
Tomato imports soared, surpassing a 50% share over the nearly two-year wartime span, whereas local production dominated pre-war. Cucumber imports surged from 15% to a third, and onion imports rose from 10% to 30%.
Earlier, Evgen Kuzin had anticipated a downturn in the premium segment of the fruit and vegetable industry, which had been flourishing before the war.
source: agrotimes.ua