In 2026, Ukraine’s dairy industry faced complex pressures caused by the war, the energy crisis, and rising production costs. As a result, the sector is experiencing a decline in production volumes and increasing structural imbalances.

This was reported by the Association of Milk Producers of Ukraine. According to the organization, in March 2026, milk production in the country decreased by more than 10% compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to about 496 thousand tons.

The overall indicators for the first quarter also show a decline: the total volume of milk production decreased to 1.31 million tons. This indicates a stable negative dynamics in the industry, which has persisted for several months.

An important change is the structure of production. Currently, the main share of milk — about 58% — is provided by agricultural enterprises, while households have significantly reduced production volumes, by almost a quarter. Although enterprises were able to increase production somewhat, this is not enough to compensate for the overall decline.

The industry identifies several key problems that affect the reduction in production. Among them are a sharp increase in the cost of energy and logistics services, a shortage of labor, limited access to financing, and increased security risks due to the war.

The situation remains particularly difficult in front-line regions, where damage to infrastructure and the loss of the resource base further complicate the dairy business. This exacerbates regional imbalances in production.

According to the Association of Milk Producers of Ukraine, more than half of all milk in Ukraine is produced by enterprises in just five regions: Poltava, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Khmelnytskyi, and Vinnytsia. Such a concentration of production emphasizes the vulnerability of the industry to regional risks.

A separate challenge remains the need for large-scale modernization of dairy farms. Most of them do not meet European standards, and upgrading the infrastructure requires significant investments — hundreds of millions of euros, which makes modernization a long-term and capital-intensive process.