Production of milk and dairy products in Ukraine: trends and prospects

Abstract

The dairy industry is one of the important components of the food industry in Ukraine. Significant dynamic and structural changes in the procurement, processing and foreign trade of milk and dairy products have been observed in recent years. Further prospects for the development of the dairy industry are formed under the influence of a decrease in agricultural harvesting of milk, a decrease in the volume of deep processing of milk (production of butter and cheese), changes in foreign trade. It is important to study the current state of the dairy industry and identify trends in its further development. The tendencies of milk procurement by agricultural enterprises and households of Ukraine are investigated. Over the years milk production in agriculture has been dynamically diminishing, with a shift to entrepreneurial forms of dairy farming. It has been noted that the decrease in milk production volume in recent years has influenced the dynamics of industrial production of dairy products. In particular, in recent years the production of cheese and butter has decreased significantly, and milk production has been characterized by unstable trends. The general characteristics of Ukraine's foreign trade in milk and dairy products are presented. In recent years, the value of the export-to-import ratio has been positive for most dairy products. Over the last year (2018), exports of butter, condensed milk and cream, condensed milk and cream and whey prevailed in Ukraine. At the same time, they imported more cheese and butter, fermented or fermented milk and cream. The main part of the exported dairy products was export of butter and milk and cream condensed, imported mainly cheese. It is established that the main problem of the dairy industry today is the low level of milk production. Therefore, financial and investment processes should be stimulated to build farms and increase livestock production at enterprises to offset losses from reduced milk production by households. At the same time, it is necessary to encourage deep processing of milk, in particular the production of butter (main export product) and cheese (to avoid import dependence).