On October 25, 2024, the XVI International Dairy Congress in Uman hosted a roundtable discussion on ‘Livestock and Dairy Industry: Challenges and Prospects for Development’. The event was organized by the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

Participants discussed the main challenges for the dairy sector, including human resources, tax issues, opportunities for state support for 2025-2030, and prospects for adapting Ukrainian standards to European ones.

Vitaliy Koval, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, emphasized the importance of livestock as a key element of food security and stressed that support for livestock is a priority for the Ministry.

“This is not only a matter of production, but also the overall development of the agricultural sector. There is profitability in the dairy sector, but the payback period is long, so the foundations need to be laid now,” he said.

The minister also emphasized the importance of adapting Ukrainian dairy production standards to European ones, noting that this would allow Ukrainian producers to enter new markets in the EU.

Ivan Chaikivskyi, Secretary of the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy, emphasized that state support for livestock farming during the war is critically important. Despite the decrease in the number of dairy cattle by 6.6% since last year, the industry is demonstrating resilience, which is important for the economic recovery of Ukraine. He emphasized the need to simplify bureaucratic procedures for farmers and expand the 5-7-9 program to finance the construction of dairy farms.

According to Andrii Dykun, the UAC Chairman, the Congress has become an important platform for sharing experiences and setting priorities for supporting the industry:

“We discussed the key issues of the sector and ideas for its development together with representatives of the relevant parliamentary committees and the Minister. We jointly determined what support and solutions the industry needed. We had a fruitful conversation and, as a result, further actions are planned in the near future,” said Andrii Dykun.

He thanked the farmers for their resilience and mutual support, as well as for the support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The International Congress was also attended by investors, owners, managers and leading specialists of dairy farms and dairy processing enterprises, representatives of the relevant ministry, as well as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Innovation and Infrastructure in the Agro-industrial Complex Maksym Guzenko, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Improving the Structure of State Administration in the Agro-industrial Complex Oleh Tarasov, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Land Relations Artem Nahayevskyi, Dmytro Kostiuk, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Policy of the Agricultural Sector, Rural Development, Science and Education, and Chairman of the Secretariat of the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy Oleksandr Starynets.