Mykola Babenko, Executive Director of the Association of the Meat Industry, General Director of the Center for Improving Efficiency in Animal Husbandry, in an interview with agronews.ua explained the situation with the production and consumption of pork in Ukraine.
According to this expert, until 2014 Ukraine was one of the ten largest importers of pork in the world. But meat consumption in the country was gradually declining. Now it is the lowest in Europe pork consumption per capita - 14 kilograms per year. For comparison, the consumption of this meat in our neighboring countries is 30-45 kilograms per capita per year, ie 2-3 more than in Ukraine.
Ukraine produces little of its own pork and imports less and less. Declining incomes make even the purchase of frozen imported meat inaccessible, although it is cheaper than fresh home-grown meat.
Mykola Babenko emphasizes the fact that Ukraine now has a critically small herd of pigs. By comparison, countries like Denmark and the Netherlands have 3.5 times more pigs than we do. Although territorially these countries are 14 times smaller than us.
"The development of the meat industry in Ukraine is constrained by the high cost of production of these products," explains Mykola Babenko. The cost of pork production should be the lowest in the world, or somewhere on a par with the United States, Canada and Brazil - 0.94-1.14 euros per kilogram. Instead, it is the highest in Europe, at 2 euros per kilogram.
Information source - tripoli.land
