THE UNION OF DAIRY ENTERPRISES OF UKRAINE

EU Integration Committee
of Ukrainian Dairy

Ukrainian Dairy Sector on the Path to the EU: Finalising the Roadmap

A key online consultative meeting was held last week to finalise the Roadmap for the Integration of Ukraine’s Dairy Sector into the EU. This document is a strategic planning tool that defines specific steps, deadlines and responsible persons to achieve full compatibility of the Ukrainian dairy industry with European standards.

The meeting began with an introductory speech by Oleksandr Avramuk, Chairman of the Ukrainian Dairy Industry Union Committee on European Integration and CEO of Lactalis Ukraine, who emphasised the importance of preparing the dairy industry for integration. Continuing the topic, Dr Mark Gramberger, Prospex International, explained the concept of the Roadmap as a strategic tool that should be detailed enough to understand specific actions but, at the same time, conceptual enough not to lose the overall strategic overview.

Elizabeth Sviatkivska, Coordinator of the SMPU Committee on European Integration, presented the results of the consultations, noting that the draft document received a high average score of 8.1 points out of 10 from market participants, while all comments received were considered in detail by thematic groups and mainly taken into account to enhance the realism of the map.

The questions and comments voiced during the survey, along with an in-depth analysis of specific areas of the Roadmap (Topics 1–11), were answered by experts Iryna Vysotska, Tetyana Harkavenko, Yuriy Oglashennyi, Viktoriia Lets, Olena Zhupinas, Elizabeth Sviatkivska, Vadym Chagarovskyi and Maks Fasteyev, who focused on the practical implementation of changes and taking into account the specifics of Ukrainian legislation. Mykola Moroz, Director General of the Directorate of Agro-Industrial Development, provided important clarifications and the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture’s general vision for certain areas.

Outlining plans for the future, Maks Fasteyev, Advisor to the SMPU Committee on European Integration, reported that over the next month, the Roadmap will be transformed into an easy-to-use format of infographics and tables for businesses, and its official presentation will take place on May 20 in Kyiv.

At the end of the meeting, Arsen Didur, Executive Director of the SMPU, and Hanna Lavreniuk, Director General of the AVM, summed up, expressing gratitude to the team of experts and partners from Switzerland and the Netherlands for their support in developing this strategic document.

The Roadmap for EU Integration of the Ukrainian Dairy Sector is being developed by the European Integration Committee of the Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine (SMPU) in partnership with the Association of Milk Producers of Ukraine (AVM) with the support of:

  • Switzerland within the framework of the Swiss-Ukrainian Programme “Higher Value Added Trade from the Organic and Dairy Sectors in Ukraine” (QFTP) implemented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL, Switzerland) in partnership with SAFOSO AG (Switzerland);
  • Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine.