Producers Call for Ban on Imports of russian-Kazakh Buckwheat
Ukraine needs to protect its domestic market by launching an investigation into buckwheat imported through Kazakhstan from russia and banning such imports, as they are destabilizing the market.
This opinion was expressed by Valerii Shapochka, co-founder of Ozerianka Groats Plant, during the Grain Processing Forum 2026, held as part of Agro Ukraine Week.
«For the past three years, Ukraine has been implementing new standards for crop production, including stricter requirements for permissible nitrate and pesticide residues. According to the Ministry of Health’s 2023 regulation, neither russia nor Kazakhstan complies with these standards. This means that virtually all buckwheat imported into Ukraine violates the country’s current legislation,» Shapochka said.
Oleksii Pinchuk, Director of the Department at Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture, noted that restricting russian-Kazakh buckwheat imports is possible, but any measures must comply with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
«If, together with producers and industry associations, we can gather evidence proving that russia exports this buckwheat through Kazakhstan and that these imports constitute unfair price competition, we will be able to pursue this issue further and defend Ukraine’s position,» the government official stated.
Victoria Polevyk, AgroPortal.ua
