Last year, Ukraine faced challenges with labor shortages in harvesting fruits and berries as enterprises struggled to gather crops. This year, the labor issue is expected to intensify, according to Volodymyr Pechko, head of UkrSadvinprom.
Pechko stated, "Last year, there were frequent cases when enterprises could not harvest. There was no one to collect it." He highlighted UkrSadvinprom's initiative to amend legislative norms to attract foreign labor from countries like Nepal, India, and Vietnam. "We had an initiative to improve legislative norms, bylaws that regulate, among other things, migration legislation, which is related to the migration service (to facilitate the attraction, invitation to Ukraine of foreigners - ed.) for harvesting. These can be countries such as Nepal, India, and Vietnam. For us, this is now issue number one," Pechko said.
He noted that labor shortages extend beyond horticulture to sectors like construction. Pechko emphasized, "They will be even more pronounced because there are no fewer shellings. For example, winemaking. Today, some enterprises could not physically finish pruning grapes as of April. This is due to the fact that no one simply prunes it, no one harvests."
On the effect of labor shortages on product costs, Pechko remarked, "Of course, this will affect the cost of berries. When there are no people, employees, then, of course, the labor market will increase the price for labor." Factors influencing costs include inflation, labor wages, weather conditions, and customs requirements from the U.S. and Europe.
Source: UNN