Strengthening Europe’s agrisector: EU–Ukraine synergies

On April 21, the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club organized a public event “Strengthening Europe’s Agrisector: EU-Ukraine Synergies”, dedicated to exploring how supply chain synergies between the Ukrainian and the European agrifood sectors generate value for Europe and Ukraine, making a strategic case for European integration of Ukrainian agriculture. Including plant proteins for feed and livestock-related sectors, biomethane and biofuel feedstocks, circular bioeconomy pathways, resilient logistics, and selected processing segments.

The event focused on four key dimensions: EU legislative alignment and sector modernisation as drivers of competitiveness, risk-sharing and de-risking mechanisms under wartime and recovery conditions, adaptation of the EU financial toolbox to support reconstruction and market integration, and practical FDI cases to unlock EU–Ukraine synergies and strengthen the European agrifood sector.

In his welcoming address to the event, Taras Kachka, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euroatlantic integration underlined that the key point of the debate is not just how the EU would integrate Ukraine, but how Ukraine’s accession can strengthen the enlarged Union itself. Ukraine should be seen not only as a candidate country adapting to the acquis, but also as a strategic asset for the future of Europe’s economic and security architecture, including its agri-food model.

Oleh Khomenko, UCAB general director noted at the same time that potential EU Ukraine synergies in agrifood would not materialise automatically. They would require investment in compliance, modernisation, logistics, processing, energy resilience and new value chains. Moreover, they would also benefit from a more strategic approach to Ukraine’s EU accession, whereby Ukrainian farmers and agri entrepreneurs can benefit from a gradual approach to legislative alignment. Such an approach would give them greater flexibility and therefore more breathing space to rebuild, recover, adapt and stay competitive.

Oleksandra Avramenko, head of UCAB European integration committee presented a position paper spelling out key arguments in support of Ukraine’s EU accession as a long-term factor reinforcing the EU’s food security, strategic autonomy, competitiveness and resilience. The paper’s key message is that Ukraine should not be viewed as a peripheral or future issue for European agriculture. Ukraine is already one of Europe’s major agricultural producers and exporters, deeply intertwined with EU trade, logistics and wider food-security dynamics. The question is therefore not whether Ukraine matters for the future of the European agri-food system, but how this future will be shaped together.

Vasyl Hovhera, principal, corporate advisory at EBRD presented a study focused on the sector’s investment needs to be met in order to support post-war reconstruction and recovery aligned with the EU regulatory compliance obligations.

Subsequent panel discussion involved the European Commission views presented by Lukáš Veselý, Deputy Head of Unit, Reconstruction & Accession, Ukraine Service, DG ENEST, the wartime risk factor affecting business decisions of economic actors operating in or investing in Ukraine, presented by Richard Baudin, Global Head of Specialty Risk Consulting,  Ukraine Lead, Marsh. Specific examples of potential synergies available in the Ukrainian agricultural sector were presented by UCAB members representatives Yulia Bereshchenko,Executive Director, Sustainable Business Development, and Investor Relations, Astarta and Mykhailo Bno-Airian, Vice President, Director, Global Public Affairs, MHP.