A Roundtable is currently taking place in the Netherlands, in the city of Breda, dedicated to practical steps needed to bring Ukraine’s agricultural sector closer to EU standards. The event is organised by the LTO (Netherlands Farmers’ Association), the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Forum, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine.

On the first day of the event, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tom Berendsen, and the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Taras Kachka, addressed the participants.

Taras Kachka expressed gratitude to the organisers and participants for the ongoing dialogue and active discussion, noting that Ukraine is currently focused on implementing reforms and ensuring tangible impact across sectors.

Elizabeth Svyatkivska, coordinator of the SMPU Committee on European Integration of the Dairy Sector of Ukraine, participated in the presentation on the current state of Ukrainian agriculture, including the dairy sector. She placed particular emphasis on the need to introduce long-term contracts in the relations between Ukrainian milk producers and processors. She also noted that many issues could be resolved more effectively if an inter-branch organisation were created, following the example of European colleagues, whose experience representatives of the Ukrainian dairy business had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with during previous visits to the Netherlands and France. Yelizaveta Svyatkivska noted that the use and adaptation of European experience will ensure the sustainable development of the Ukrainian dairy industry, and this is the main focus of the SMPU Committee on European Integration. She also expressed her gratitude to Karolina Spaans, Agricultural Counsellor at the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine, for her active support for the Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine in its European integration efforts.