Neither large garlic producers nor warehouses that could store all winter’s supply of products exist in Ukraine. This means that Ukrainian stores sell only garlic imported from abroad during January through June. Reported by agrotimes
“Last year, Ukraine imported 5.6 thousand tons of Chinese garlic and took 38th place in the rating of importers,” stated Vasily Gudzovsky, deputy head of the Agro-Master farm, Garlic-growing company in Vinnytsia region with a processing plant that produces in 10 hectares .
“Unfortunately, so far we really cannot cover the demand of our retail chains with our own garlic, because in Ukraine there are neither large enough garlic producers offering large quantities of high-quality goods, nor good storage facilities where garlic would be stored during the winter. Therefore, from January to June, only imported garlic is sold in supermarkets: mainly Chinese and Egyptian, partly Spanish, French, Iranian. The rest of the time, as a rule, the chains sell domestic garlic ”.
Vasyl Gudzovsky, however, believes that Ukraine should still oppose the dominance of imported garlic in its own market.
“For example, when the United States imposed a high duty on Chinese garlic, the production of California garlic immediately increased significantly,” the agricultural producer said. – There should be government support for its own manufacturer, unfortunately, we do not see this now. Now it is not easy for us to compete with the Chinese. “
