How is trade evolving between the European Union and Ukraine?!
EU exports to Ukraine increased by 9.3% in the last three months of 2024 compared to the previous quarter, while imports from Ukraine saw a slight decline of 1.8%.
This resulted in a trade surplus of €5.8 billion for the EU, according to the latest Eurostat figures. Between the fourth quarter of 2024 and 2023, EU exports to Ukraine increased by 16.7%, while imports increased by 9.2%.
Since the beginning of 2021, the EU has maintained a trade surplus with Ukraine. The only exception was the first quarter of 2022 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The surplus has been particularly pronounced in sectors such as machinery and vehicles, offsetting deficits in categories including food, beverages, tobacco and raw materials.
What are the main products exchanged between the EU and Ukraine?
From 2023 to 2024, EU imports from Ukraine of rapeseed or colza, soybean oil, corn, sunflower oil and iron and steel increased, while the weight of wood decreased.
The EU adopted a regulation in early June 2022 that allowed for temporary full trade liberalization, temporarily suspending import duties, quotas and trade defence measures on imports from Ukraine. Although this directive expired in mid-September 2023, it significantly increased EU imports from Ukraine for some agricultural products.
Between the fourth quarters of 2022 and 2024, Ukraine's share of sunflower oil in transactions with all countries outside the EU decreased from 94% to 79%.
However, in 2024, Russia became one of the main partners for extra-EU imports of this product, with a share of 3%. EU imports of iron and steel from Ukraine decreased by 48 percentage points in the last three months of 2024, compared to the fourth quarter of 2021.
Both the volume and value of EU imports of iron and steel from Ukraine grew strongly in early 2021 as demand and unit values increased following the gradual recovery of economies from the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, imports fell in late 2021 and did not return to pre-Russian invasion levels. Arms and ammunition and explosives are the two main product groups that saw the largest increase in EU exports to Ukraine in the final months of 2024.
Ursula von der Leyen confirmed a €3.5 billion package of EU financial assistance to provide additional liquidity to Ukraine's strained budget and facilitate the purchase of military equipment by its domestic industry.
These 3.5 billion euros are an advance on a larger 50 billion euro aid fund created by the European Union at the beginning of 2024. While Brussels has managed to cover Ukraine's financial needs for the entire year, the supply of weapons after the summer remains uncertain.
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