Ukraine may enter into EU before 2030, agrarian sector to have problems - ambassador

MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax) - The process of Ukraine's integration within the European Union will be challenging due to the Ukrainian agrarian sector, which presents certain threats to European farmers, yet the problem will be solved, and Ukraine will enter into the EU before 2030, Ukrainian media said, citing EU Ambassador in Kiev Katarina Mathernova.

Agriculture is the lifeline of the Ukrainian economy, as it accounts for 60% of exports and was, is and will be a key sector for Ukraine's development, Mathernova said at the Agrarian Sector 2025: Challenges and Opportunities in New Realities conference in Kiev on Thursday.

It is important to understand that this [the Ukrainian agrarian sector's integration into the EU] has to be discussed carefully, Mathernova said. The sector's potential is such that it threatens insiders when an outside has such assets and strength, but the EU will survive, she said.

She recalled the entry of Spain and Portugal into the EU, when French and Italian winemakers thought it was a disaster and they would never be able to compete. When Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia joined the EU, it was about plumbers and truck drivers, and protests were held, but the EU survived, Mathernova said.

Ukrainian vertically integrated agricultural holdings are much more productive, and therefore more frightening, than what Europe has, she said. Things won't be pretty, there will be protests at the borders, there might be some goods to subject to temporary restrictions, or export restrictions, but the system will adapt eventually, Mathernova said.