Ukraine's ban from late March 2013 on imports of pork from Brazil, which until recently was the largest meat supplier to the country, has not affected the price situation on the Ukrainian meat market as anticipated, experts say.

"The purchase price of pork has stopped at one level – it is neither rising nor falling. However, we expected that it will grow," Director General of the Ukrainian Meat Production Corporation Tvarynprom, Serhiy Hnatiuk.

He said that currently, the average purchase price of pork (in live weight) in Ukraine is UAH 16 per kilogram.

Asked whether an increase in the price of sausages was possible due to the lack of cheaper meat from Brazil, he said that earlier the use of meat from Brazil did not reduce the cost of the products.

Hnatiuk supported the decision of the State Veterinary and Bio-security Service of Ukraine to stop imports of pork from Brazil, considering that Ukraine does not need a large volume of imported pork, as the country is boosting its own production from year to year. In particular, Tvarynprom forecasts that this year pork production will expand by 8-10% compared to 2012, to 770,000-780,000 tonnes.

Hnatiuk said that 270,000 tonnes of pork was imported from Brazil in 2012.

"The sharp increase in supplies puts everyone on guard. We need around 150,000 tonnes of meat, not 270,000 tonnes," he said, predicting that in several years Ukraine will be able to fully supply the domestic market with its own pork.

Ukrmiaso National Association Head Volodymyr Popov shared that opinion. He said that Ukraine could itself produce the required amount of pork and import it from Europe, not from Brazil, if there is a shortage of pork on the market.

"Refrigerated [pork] will come from Europe, while frozen pork comes from Brazil by ship. You know that when food is frozen, it looses its quality," Popov said.

As reported, Ukraine from March 20, 2013 introduced a temporary ban on imports of pork from Brazil due to its poor quality.