The Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine (UDEP) announces its intention to establish a European Integration Committee to develop a strategy for the participation of dairy producers in the EU market. The decision to establish the committee was made at a meeting of the UDPU Board of Directors.

The event was attended by Oleksandr Zhemoyda, Director of the Department of Trade Agreements and Export Development of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, and Andriy Bogdanets, Member of Parliament of Ukraine. They discussed the range of opportunities aimed at bringing the Ukrainian dairy industry out of the crisis and expressed their readiness to continue supporting the industry and keep in touch with the UMCU.

The Executive Director of the UMDP, Arsen Didur, announced the Union's intention to support dairy processing companies in bringing their business processes, standards and environmental regulations in line with European requirements. An important step in this process is to determine adequate timeframes for the transition to European standards and ensure access to financial resources.

"The dairy sector is preparing to integrate into the EU. And businesses need to understand what needs to be done and in what timeframe to meet the requirements of the European market. These requirements are clear and inevitable for us - quality, safety, and environmental friendliness of products. Without implementing these principles at our production facilities, we will not be able to join the European dairy family. That is why the Board of Directors decided to set up a European integration committee to prepare the business for EU requirements," Didur comments.

The committee's task will be to prepare the dairy sector for integration into the European market. To this end, a roadmap for dairy companies to join the Eurozone will be developed. It is expected that the committee will coordinate it with the UPC's colleagues in the European Union.

Earlier, the UPCU announced plans to join the European Dairy Association in March 2024. This will provide Ukrainian dairy farmers with an opportunity to present the specifics of domestic companies to European organizations and governments, emphasizing that integration into the European Union should be prepared by both sides and benefit both European and Ukrainian businesses.