Ukraine will establish a national network of vegetable storage facilities to preserve 35% of the harvest.

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy is working to create a storage network, as currently 35% of the Ukrainian vegetable harvest does not reach consumers due to poor storage conditions. Many storage facilities have been destroyed by the Russians, resulting in the loss of more than 281,000 tons of storage capacity. The total deficit now exceeds 1.1 million tons.

It’s important to note that vegetable storage facilities are not just warehouses. They also serve as:

1. opportunities to store the harvest and sell it at better prices
2. tools to combat inflation
3. support for local farmers
4. sources of new jobs and taxes
5. steps toward import substitution and the development of export of value-added products

“We are moving toward the model of an agro-industrial country, where processed products, not raw materials, create the economic value. For comparison, one hectare of land in Ukraine yields an average of €1,000 in export revenue, while in Denmark, it’s €15,000. Our goal is to reduce this gap,” emphasized Minister of Agricultural Policy Vitaliy Koval.