If Ukraine signs the Association Agreement with the EU and create a free trade area (FAT), pork prices in the country will fall to the European level, the director general of the Center for Increasing the Efficiency in Animal Breeding, Mykola Babenko, has said.

According to experts, in Ukraine the price of pork (live weight) is now over UAH 18 per kilogram, while in Europe it is about UAH 13 per kilogram due to the lower cost of production.

"After entering the free trade area, we will achieve the price equal to that in the European Union," Babenko said.

"The same situation can be seen with feed, which account for 70-80% of the cost. After signing the agreement, the import duty on Ukrainian grain for European farmer will be reduced to 0.6%. Accordingly, we can expect one of these scenarios: either the price of feed Ukraine will rise or in the EU it will drop. The first option is obviously more likely."

According to Babenko, to successfully compete with European meat producers, Ukraine needs in the near future to increase the volume of exports of these products, especially as the country has such advantages as relatively cheap feed and logistics.

The obstacle to the active exports of meat and meat products, according to Babenko, is the imperfection of approaches to the technologies of pig breeding business in the country.

The expert also added that Ukrainian producers should gradually give up working under the conditions of subsidies in the form of tax benefits.