Quota for cooperation: how Ukrainian honey paves the way to Europe
22 August 11:50
ANALYSIS
It is important to set a record, but it is even more important to repeat it, and even more important to surpass it. The achievement of 2024, when Ukraine exported 85.8 thousand tons of honey, remained last year. This year there are problems with the “honey harvest”. But not only they will affect the export figures. How in Ukraine things with honey – found out "Komersant Ukrainian".
The European Association of Beekeepers opposes the previously agreed decision of the European Commission to increase the quota for duty-free import of honey from Ukraine from 6 thousand tons to 35 thousand tons per year. Such a message was spread a few days ago by Ukrainian mass media. The Association has sent a corresponding letter of protest to the European Commission. And it calls to postpone the decision to increase the quota until the introduction of more reliable systems of honey quality control. How correct is this argumentation? Here is the point of view of Eduard Krichfalushia, the head of the company “Honey Ukraine”, a member of the board of the Association of exporters and processors of honey.
“On the one hand, it looks like protection, non-market protection of its market. But, on the other hand – it should be understood that Ukraine supplies a significant volume of honey to the European Union. We are the second supplier after China in terms of volume. And the question is why Ukraine is interfering, and not those who have almost twice the volume of supplies compared to Ukraine?”
– notes the expert
The current quota of 6 thousand tons of Ukrainian honey is nothing, he says. After all, we are talking about less than 10% of the total Ukrainian supplies to the European Union. But the pre-agreed with the EU 35 thousand tons is already a tangible figure.
“To those who oppose this, we can say only one thing: it is necessary, friends, to work on a quality product and on its cost price. We produce a quality product. Consumers in your countries love our product. And you want to limit it? The question is different: are you ready to produce this product in the quantity that your countries consume? Or are you protecting the market for some other supplier with a higher margin or a higher price, for example, the same China?”
– wondered the specialist.
According to a letter from the European Beekeepers Association, the European honey market is now facing growing competition from cheap imported honey, often of dubious quality and of unclear origin, with no effective control mechanisms in place. What is the answer to this?
“This is just an unsubstantiated statement. If they say that, then let them show at least one complaint about Ukrainian honey, or about adulteration or substitution of origin, whatever. There is no such thing.”
– notes the expert.
Krichfalushy reminds that Ukraine has quality legislation harmonized with European legislation. Ukrainian producers, especially those working for export, adhere to the quality standards of the European Union.
“Of course, we are subordinate to the state veterinary service, which controls us, which selects materials, checks, puts it into circulation and gives permission for export. Accordingly, the European Union has a list of all operators that are attached and authorized for export. And only companies that have been audited are authorized to export”,
– notes the expert.
Дивіться нас у YouTube: важливі теми – без цензури
What about the export of Ukrainian honey to Europe
In total, last year Ukraine exported almost 86 thousand tons of natural honey for a record $ 167 million – this is 38% more compared to 2023. These are the data of the State Customs Service. Most of all bought Ukrainian honey in Germany – almost 19 thousand tons, followed by the United States – 12.1 thousand tons, Poland – 9.7 thousand tons, France – 9.6 thousand tons, Belgium – 7.1 thousand tons. In total, 71 thousand tons of Ukrainian honey were exported to the EU countries.
So the conclusion is simple: firstly, the European market is fundamentally important for this article of Ukrainian export, and, secondly, Ukrainian honey is in demand among European consumers.
According to Eduard Krichfalushia,
“if you take the history of our supplies to the European Union for the last five, even more years, weighted average can be firmly said that the European Union consumes within 40-50 thousand tons of Ukrainian honey annually”.
The specialist explains what Ukrainian honey is primarily valued for.
“The Ukrainian product has several key characteristics that are inherent in the concept of honey. It is amber-yellow, it has no extraneous flavor, it is not rosemary, not lavender, not some specific honeys, it has a simple, familiar to consumers honey flavor. It is clean from antibiotics, pesticides, various GMO-cultures, which are found all over the world,” states the expert,
– states the expert.
In trade with the EU for Ukrainian exporters there is also an obvious “plus” and, unfortunately, the same obvious so far “minus”.
“We are close to the European Union, close to the consumer. Within two weeks there is a possibility of delivery to the buyer’s warehouse, it is not 90-120 days to fulfill an order, which floats from Latin America, from the same Mexico, which is another major supplier of honey to the EU. So far we have only one minus – it is that we are a country at war and we cannot get the status of a preferred supplier, because force majeure can happen any day. And that’s what all the buyers realize. We hope that this will be resolved and we will be able to be a preferred supplier in the European market,” the exporter says,
– notes the exporter.
Quota and duty
So far, Ukrainian honey trade with EU countries is associated with two words: quota and duty. In 2024 Ukraine could export 44.4 thousand tons of honey to the EU duty-free. After the quota is exhausted, the next batches of the product are subject to a duty of 17.3%. From January 1, 2025 until June, a special quota of 18,500 tons was set for honey. Since June 6, 2025, when Ukraine’s preferential trade regime with the EU ended, the quota level has dropped to only 3,500 tons and it has already been exhausted.
Further – the prospect of customs trade and price increase, which reduces the competitiveness of the Ukrainian product. And this is despite the fact that quotas can hardly be considered the best option for trade.
According to Eduard Krichfalushia, the best option for us would be to remove restrictions on volumes and introduce a reduced rate for all supplies, without quotas. The EU has an example of such cooperation – with Mexico. But so far Europe favors quotas in trade with Ukraine.
“Quota, as a method of regulation, in itself is very bad. It creates distortions. When there is a quota, everyone wants to “get in” in a narrow period of time in order to get the opportunity of tariff-free customs clearance. When there is no quota, you have to pay customs duties and tariffs, and demand decreases. And when traditionally the quota starts on January 1 – everyone wants to buy in December and buy a lot”,
– says the expert.
According to him, this creates a burden on exporters and pressure on suppliers-beekeepers, a deficit is formed, and all this leads in the end to the fact that no one has sufficient profitability to fulfill obligations and make a profit.
“Accordingly, we have been actively working to change this narrow corridor of 6,000 tons. And now a remarkable change, that is a fairly large volume of 35 thousand tons, it will make it impossible to skew during the quota, and thus allow Ukrainian honey to be more competitive against the honey of other countries.”
– notes Eduard Krichfalushy.
What about honey production in Ukraine
The current harvest also adjusts the volume of exports to the EU. This year Ukrainian beekeepers did not get enough honey – to a large extent, the weather has made adjustments. Tells Volodymyr Klymenko, chairman of the union of beekeepers Korostenshchyna “Honey Polesie”.
“I will say about my region, the north of Zhytomyr region, the city of Korosten and the district. Protracted spring. The period of flowering rape, where you can take marketable honey, build up families – rains, cool. Therefore, there was practically no honey. Acacia, four days, all frozen, also minus. We have no linden as such. That is Kanev, you have to go there, Poltava region, Kiev, Cherkassy. But from talking to colleagues from those regions, we can conclude that there is also a minimum there. Here, sunflower partially yielded, and not everywhere. Since the field is blooming, the weather allows, there are bees on sunflower, but no honey. Either soil depletion, or hybrid sunflower, which pollinates itself,” explains the beekeeper,
– explains the beekeeper.
That is, Ukrainian beekeepers this year collected a smaller “honey harvest” than they expected. And the shortage of products on the domestic market pushes prices up.
Volodymyr Klymenko was lucky, because he “monitored and guessed the field that gave marketable honey”. Therefore, the beekeeper received his planned product ration. His colleagues were less lucky – many did not reach the norm of 40-60%.
“As for purchase prices, last year the maximum price was 63 hryvnias per kilogram, and now it is already up to 75 hryvnias per kilogram. Many are now surrendering honey, but still not the amount that exporters expect”,
– says Klymenko.
However, according to the expert, “the collapse will not be”, because the producers still need live money, and they will be forced to surrender the goods under any conditions.
“Not all beekeepers will be able to hold on to honey, let’s say, until better times. I think that the price will fall,” said Vladimir Klimenko,
– believes Vladimir Klimenko.
Читайте нас у Telegram: головні новини коротко
Now the purchase price of honey in Ukraine can be 80 hryvnia per kilogram, and almost 200 hryvnia. Much depends on what kind of honey it is – some varieties are in great shortage. Eduard Krichfalushy continues:
“We collected honeys 30% less, in total quantity, than in the previous year. But the worst thing is that we did not harvest some varieties at all. For example, this year Ukraine has not seen almost no acacia honey, i.e. small batches of this honey were sold out in the first or second week after the honey harvest. As for linden and buckwheat – the situation is better, they are available, but prices have increased significantly. The harvest of polyfloral, floral honey also failed. Especially it concerns the southern part of Ukraine, frontline – Zaporizhzhya, Kharkiv – regions, where traditionally there were a lot of beekeepers and a great honey harvest”.
There will be honey, the question is the price
Prices for honey in Ukraine vary depending on the variety, volume and place of purchase. Acacia and linden honey are considered the most expensive. The cheapest is sunflower honey.
It is also worth considering that directly from the beekeeper to buy honey can be cheaper than in the market. And in the supermarket it can cost more expensive than at the beekeeper or at the market. The price of honey in the retail network depends on the markup, which on average is 35-50%. It is also worth taking into account taxes. On average, the price of a kilogram of honey in retail chains starts now at almost 200 hryvnias per 1 kg.
In general, according to Eduard Krichfalushy, the consumer will not be left without honey. The product will be on the shelves of supermarkets, the only question is at what price. After all, the logic is simple: less honey is produced – supply from producers is lower – prices are higher.
Sergey Vasilevich
