Ukrainian poultry sector sees sharp profit drops

The development of the poultry sector in Ukraine is strongly affected by the political and economical problems of the country. Higher production costs jeopardise the future growth of the industry, says Sergey Karpenko, the Executive Director of the Union of Poultry Breeders of Ukraine.

According to Karpenko, the devaluation of the hryvnia, higher prices for feed and the declining purchasing power of Ukrainians cause a sharp drop in profitability for poultry farmers in recent months.

Rise in price of feed grain

“Most veterinary drugs and vitamins, as well as equipment and sometimes breeding poultry are purchased abroad. And this situation, along with the rise in price of feed grain, has led to the growth of production costs by almost 60%”, he stated.

Many poultry farmers losing money

“Due to the artificial containment of price growth at the rate of 40% during the past six months, many poultry farmers are currently losing money. In addition, the Ukrainian poultry industry has lost an important market like Russia”, Karpenko added.

Less poultry meat and eggs

All these factors have led to a decrease in the production of poultry meat by 2.6% and eggs by 9% in the first months of 2015, according to the Union of Poultry Breeders of Ukraine. Sergey Karpenko believes that the poultry industry can overcome the current crisis only in case of stabilisation of the country’s currency and an increase of quota for duty-free export of Ukrainian poultry to the European Union.