Crushing Hit To Ukraine’s Economy: EU Pulls the Plug On Ukraine’s Trade Perks
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
The 2014 Association Agreement rules are back in play, and the EU is allowing Ukraine’s special trade access to expire, delivering a significant blow to the Ukrainian economy, according to German media reports.Ukrainian farmers now face severe restrictions, with limited duty-free access to the EU market. Corn quotas, once set at 14 million tons, have been drastically reduced to a mere 650,000 tons. Additionally, meat, sugar, eggs, and sunflower oil — once key export products — are now subject to quotas and tariffs.These agricultural goods represented 60% of Ukraine’s total exports, the majority of which went to the EU. As a result, billions of dollars in foreign currency are now out of reach, severely affecting Ukraine’s economic stability.In 2022, the EU granted Ukraine near-total market access, a move that caused anger among Eastern and Central European member states. While countries like Poland expressed support, Ukraine is now facing a harsh reality: EU solidarity has its limits, and the economic repercussions of these new trade restrictions could prove devastating for Ukraine’s struggling agricultural sector.
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