Ukraine & Croatia. Cooperation in Agro-Industrial Sector. Top Messages by Sergey Fatkullin

Ukraine-Croatia cooperation in agriculture
Ukraine-Croatia cooperation in agriculture
Photo by: Latifundist.com

A market's accessibility makes it more competitive. The Ukrainian agricultural market is no exception. The domestic agriproducers are enthusiastic about establishing business relations with representatives of different countries. In February the embassies of Ukraine and Croatia hosted an online meeting "Agricultural cooperation of Ukraine and Croatia: Opportunities and innovations". The event was supported by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Croatia to Ukraine Anica Jamic and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Croatia Vasyl Kyrylych. Representatives of embassies and businesses discussed fields of cooperation between the countries in the agricultural sector. Latifundist.com interviewed the Honorary Consul of Croatia in Ukraine Sergey Fatkullin, who gave more details about the prospects of cooperation in the agro-industrial sector.

Sergey Fatkullin, Honorary Consul of Croatia in Ukraine

1. Features of the Ukrainian and Croatian agro-industrial complexes

The two markets are essentially different. In Ukraine, the focus is on the large-scale production of cereals and industrial crops, in Croatia, horticulture and organic farming is prioritized. The share of organic farming in Croatia's agricultural sector is three times higher than in Ukraine. Besides, farmers in Croatia do bio-farming and related to it activities. They are building a blockchain for fisheries. In turn, Ukraine is attractive because there are about 100 AgTech startups developing in our country. Hence, it is quite easy to find points of contact and be useful to one another.

Key facts about agriculture in Ukraine and Croatia

2. Bigger and smaller

With regard to the size of the countries and their geographical location, the main agricultural indicators of Croatia and Ukraine differ manifold. As already mentioned, the arable land area in Ukraine is 13x larger than that in Croatia. The share of agriculture in Croatia's GDP is 7x smaller than the share of agriculture in Ukraine's. The Croatian agricultural sector generated USD 1.77 bln or 2.9% of the country's GDP in 2019. Given the scale of agricultural production and the development of other export destinations, Croatia delivers 9x less (in terms of money) agricultural commodities to foreign markets than Ukraine.

3. Crop yields

Clearly, the volumes of grains and oilseeds produced in Ukraine and Croatia are incomparable. Nevertheless, according to USDA data, the yield of industrial crops in Croatia is significantly higher than in Ukraine. For example, in 2020/21 in Croatia, with the bulk yield of corn of 2.1 mln t, its average yield reached 8.27 t/ha. Ukrainian agronomists, unlike Croatian agronomists, have to control the cultivation of crops on larger plots of land. In Ukraine, an agronomist oversees 3 thou. ha of farmland. However, the experience of Croatian crop growers may be of interest to Ukrainian agriproducers.

Basic crops production in Ukraine and Croatia in the 2020/21 season (click for full resolution)

4. Export balance

The trade turnover between the countries totals USD 10.2 mln. Remarkably, both Ukraine and Croatia supply one another with the same amount (in terms of money) of agro-products. In 2020, agricultural products accounted for 15.5% of Ukraine's total exports to Croatia. The share of agro-products and processed products in Croatia's shipments to Ukraine summed 9.8%.

Ukraine-Croatia trade in 2020

5. Value-added turnover

It is noteworthy that value-added products form the basis of agricultural trade between the countries. Almost half of Croatian agricultural exports (in terms of money) to Ukraine in 2020 are value-added products: malt extracts and prepared or preserved fish. Moreover, Ukraine has a strong position in the supply of bakery products, chocolate and fresh or chilled beef to Croatia. In 2020, confectionery, yeast, pasta, sunflowerseed oil and other products were among the top ten agricultural products exported from Ukraine to Croatia.

Honorary Consul of Croatia in Ukraine Sergey Fatkullin and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Croatia to Ukraine Anica Jamic

6. Blue oceans

Despite, or perhaps owing to, the fact that the countries' main vectors of agriculture are not the same, we have spotted several 'blue oceans', opportunities for cooperation. After all, the structure of the industry and markets is not defined once and for all, there is a room for new opportunities. The important thing is to find them.

Agrarian win-win for Ukraine and Croatia (click for full resolution)

7. Trade turnover. Growth points

According to our estimates, there are at least 8 commodity groups in which Ukraine could increase its exports to Croatia. These are bakery products, chocolate, dairy products, cattle and beef, cigarettes, oilcake and sunflowerseed oil. There are also positions that may be of interest to Ukraine. I'm talking about seafood, berries, and other products from Croatia. I am sure that countries have much more points of cooperation in trade. In order to identify them, we need systematic work to promote exports of both countries.

TOP 20 imported products to Croatia in 2020 (click for full resolution)

8. Farming equipment

The agricultural machine-building industry is well developed in Ukraine. In this sector, old and new enterprises are being modernized, new ones are established. Today Ukraine can supply modern and competitive irrigation and grain storage equipment to Croatia. For example, the Ukrainian company Variant Agro Build has entered the Croatian market with its equipment and actively participates in tenders.

9. Capacity in AgTech

One of Ukraine's key strengths is that various AgTech projects having potential in the Croatian market are rapidly developing in the country. Of the hundreds of AgTech startups, at least a third are successfully operating abroad. So, we can present projects that have proven themselves in Ukraine to the Croatian market.

AgTech startups in Ukraine (click for full resolution)

10. Knowledge is power

I am convinced that Croatia and Ukraine have much more common vectors and points of interest. But for that, we need to know more about each other. If we Google Croatia-Ukraine, agriculture, we get only 1,000 results with news coverage.

What is known about the agriculture sector in Croatia?

Sergey Fatkullin

Honorary Consul of Croatia in Ukraine

"I am grateful to the Ambassador of Croatia to Ukraine Anica Jamic and Latifundist Media for contributing towards opening up new markets and developing cooperation with existing international partners."

Left to right: Honorary Consul of Croatia in Ukraine Sergey Fatkullin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Croatia to Ukraine Anica Jamic and CEO Latifundist Media Tatyana Prikhodko

Alla Sylyvonchyk, Latifundist.com

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