Ukraine will try to stabilise soaring domestic meat prices without having to resort to curbs on exports, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said on Saturday. On Thursday, a senior government official told Reuters Ukraine may impose substantial curbs on meat exports after price rises of more than 40 percent in some cases this year.
"We will not limit exports. There are (other) solutions, we will show," Groysman said at the annual Yalta European Strategy conference. Average domestic prices for pork surged 43 percent in the first eight months of the year, while beef and poultry were up 26 percent and 31 percent respectively, according to Ukraine's state statistics service. Poultry dominates the country's meat exports, accounting for about 75 percent of the total volume, producers' data shows.
This year Ukraine exports poultry mostly to Egyppt, the Netherlands, and Iraq Domestic consumption of meat is nearly equal to total production, but producers find it more profitable to export, hence the price rises.