Ukraine may not be an economic powerhouse like China or the U.S., but its goods have reached unlikely markets across the world.
Possessing over a quarter of all the world’s “black earth,” the most fertile soil with optimal qualities for large-scale agriculture, Ukraine is known as the “Breadbasket of Europe.”
Having once fed the Soviet Union and former eastern bloc countries, Ukraine’s agricultural products now put food on the table in all four continents.
While Ukraine exports much of its food products to the European Union, protectionist quotas mean that it has to look to distant lands to diversify its markets.
From agricultural products to raw materials, electrical products, chemicals, furniture, and everything in between, Ukraine also sends its goods to far-flung corners of the world.
Ethiopia
A Muslim volunteer carries Ethiopian National flags in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on May 11, 2021 at Meskel square. (AFP)
This East African country located in the Horn of Africa is one of Ukraine’s biggest trading partners in Africa.
After Ethiopia recovered from economic difficulties prior to 2010, Ukraine entered this lucrative East African market as a major exporter of steel products.
According to the World Bank’s latest global trade data, Ukraine exported over $76 million of steel to Ethiopia in 2018, accounting for almost 80% of Ukrainian exports to the nation. Ukraine has a long history of steel production. Ukrainian steel, produced in factories in Eastern Ukraine, has been used to create large infrastructure projects including bridges, shopping malls, hotels, and much more.
Similar projects, such as the $4.8 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, have fueled demands for foreign steel in Ethiopia, to the benefit of producers and exporters in Ukraine.
According to the embassy of Ukraine to Ethiopia, Ukraine is now poised to deepen economic ties with the nation, especially in the fields of energy and agriculture.
In a 2018 meeting between the Ukrainian and Ethiopian Chambers of Commerce in Addis Ababa, Ukraine and Ethiopia detailed plans to establish a joint council on economic relations. It is hoped that this council will further increase trade volumes and lay the groundwork for new international economic cooperation.
Iraq
This picture taken on December 24, 2019 shows a view of the Senak bridge which runs over the Tigris river in the Iraqi capital Baghdad at dusk. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
As global populations surge, and the food needs of developing nations grow, Ukraine’s affordable agricultural exports are becoming increasingly popular. China, Egypt, and Indonesia all now rely on Ukrainian cereals and food products to ensure food security.
Iraq, as a nation rebuilding after years of war, is just the latest nation to look to Ukraine as a source of food imports to help feed its recovering population.
At the 2021 Antalya Diplomatic Forum, Dymtro Kuleba was reported to have made assurances that Ukraine would act as a “guarantor of food security” in Iraq.
In 2020, Iraq was the third single largest importer of Ukrainian meat products, and the second largest importer of Ukrainian bird eggs, importing a total $351 million of agricultural products, according to the Ukrainian Business and Trade Association.
Iraq is also offering new opportunities for Ukrainian exporters in industries such as metallurgy, raw materials, halal animal products, and consumer goods. In Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish territories, Ukraine is already working to establish trade links and venues to discuss new export opportunities.
In June, the Ukrainian International Chamber of Commerce opened its first branch in the Kurdish capital, Erbil. According to the official representative of Ukraine, Emad Ballack, the center will serve to “promote and strengthen international trade relations and cooperation between Iraq and the Kurdistan Region and Ukraine and their international partners.”
Algeria
This picture taken on January 18, 2021 from a hill in the Sidi Mhamed neighbourhood shows birds perching with a view below of the Algerian capital Algiers on a clear day. (Photo by RYAD KRAMDI / AFP)
In an online event hosted alongside the Embassy of Ukraine in Algeria, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Dymtro Senik announced that in the first quarter of 2021, Algeria had regained its position as the second largest trading partner to Ukraine on the African Continent.
Algeria is one of the largest importers of steel billet in the MENA region. This comes as a result of significant foreign investment and a relaxation of protectionist policies on steel imports. With the collapse of Iranian steel mills following U.S. sanctions, the Algerian steel import market has opened up to the Eurasian market.
Both Ukraine and Russia compete in this market, with Ukrainian steel exports outperforming Russian supply. In 2018, Ukraine exported over $312 million of steel products to the Algerian market, while Russian steel accounted for just over $273 million.
In a statement issued in February by the press service of the Embassy of Ukraine in Algeria, a spokesperson stated that both Ukraine and Algeria intend to deepen collaboration in the field of metallurgy and encourage continued Ukrainian exports.
Senegal
This aerial view taken on on September 23, 2019, shows the Great Mosque of the Mourides in Dakar, on the eve of the inauguration of the building in the Senegalese capital. – Senegal’s influential Mouride Brotherhood will inaugurate a 30,000-capacity mosque in the capital Dakar, touted as the largest in West Africa and rivalling its opulent peers in Arab nations. (Photo by Adrien BARBIER / AFP)
In the coming years, Senegal and other West African nations may become prime markets for Ukrainian agricultural exports.
As one of the most stable nations in West Africa, Senegal has enjoyed steady economic growth of 6% per year between 2014 and 2018. Until a recent dip due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Senegalese economy was one of the fastest growing economies on the African continent.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, bilateral trade turnover between the two nations already amounts to $118.89 million per year, of which Ukrainian exports accounted for $117.12 million.
Yet Senegal’s rapid economic development, paired with increased living standards and greater foreign investment, could see Ukraine increase this figure significantly.
One expert from the Investment Center of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations noted that West African nations were importing millions of dollars of vegetables from European nations at nearly 3-4 times the cost of Ukrainian products.
As the level of bilateral trade increases, and Senegal’s economic reforms continue, Ukrainian exporters will be able to undercut their European competitors and gain unprecedent access to new West African markets.
Across West Africa, there is now increasing demand for Ukrainian cereals, oils, fertilizers, synthetic goods, and vegetables.
Oman
An aerial view shows the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in the Omani capital Muscat on April 9, 2021. (Photo by Haitham AL-SHUKAIRI / AFP)
The Sultanate of Oman, situated on the Arabian Peninsula, is an oil-rich nation undergoing rapid development in an increasingly globalized world.
Ukraine appears to have been an early investor into the remote market. In 2020, Ukrainian exports of cereals, fats, oils, grains, meats, and other raw products, increased by $18.7 million, with total trade turnover accounting $107.9 million annually.
For Ukraine, increased trade is accompanied by greater regional influence and diplomatic bargaining power. Ukrainian economic interests in the Gulf have been growing year-on-year and Ukraine has focused on leveraging agricultural exports with other Arabic nations.
According to Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Dmytro Senik, Ukraine is increasing its economic cooperation with many Gulf nations. Over the course of 2021, Ukraine increased trade with Oman by a record 42.6%.
The Ukrainian foreign minister is also reported to have discussed the establishment of direct flights between the two nations and the development of Ukrainian tourism to the region.
