The Ministry of Agrarian Policy is developing a program to increase milk production The Ministry of

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food is developing a program for the development of the livestock industry and aims to increase the annual production of milk.

This was stated by the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Roman Leshchenko, reports the Association of Milk Producers.

“We are currently developing an appropriate program, and when we reach the final version, we will present our vision for the development of the dairy industry. Today we have a clear understanding that we need to reach the production of 6 million tons of milk in the industrial sector and 2 million tons in the sector of small family farms. With systematic investments in a five-year cycle, we can deploy this entire paradigm, move away from imports and develop domestic producers,” Leshchenko said.

He also clarified that the Ministry of Agrarian Policy is considering the introduction of additional protective duties on certain groups of products in the dairy industry, primarily on cheese products.

“We are conducting relevant investigations, looking at analytics, but I want to say that we will definitely protect our market. This is especially true for cheese products, the import of which is growing exponentially. During January-April this year, we imported cheese products worth UAH 120 million, despite the fact that last year, as of now, imports amounted to UAH 90 million.

There is unfair competition and we are taking the issue of protective duties for our dairy industry quite seriously. Not for the entire group of goods, but for individual ones. First of all, we are talking about cheese products,” said Leshchenko.

agroportal.ua