Last week, ASAP Agri analyzed how Ukraine’s grain exports to the EU have evolved since russia’s full-scale invasion and what the potential return of EU tariffs and quotas could mean for future trade.

This week, let’s turn to oilseeds and their by-products. ASAP Agri’s Chief Oilseed Analyst, Kateryna Mudriian, explores how Ukrainian exports have evolved over recent seasons — and what the current situation looks like.

Oilseeds vs grains: a different trade framework

Unlike grains, Urainian oilseeds and their by-products have not been subject to tariffs or quotas under the EU–Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), which provisionally entered into force on 1 January 2016. Since then, exports of sunflower seeds, rapeseed, soybeans, and their derivatives to the EU have enjoyed fully liberalized access — a fundamentally different trade framework compared to grains.

As the charts below show, the EU already held a significant share in Ukraine’s oilseed and by-product exports even before russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

In the 2020/21 MY, the EU accounted for: 

– 94% of Ukraine’s rapeseed exports,

– 65% of sunflower seed,

– 28% of soybeans,

– 33% of sunflower meal, and

– 27% of sunflower oil exports.


Wartime shift: surging oilseed exports to neighboring EU countries

When the russia–Ukraine war began and Ukraine’s sea exports were blocked, Ukrainian agricultural exports surged to neighboring EU countries such as Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. 

For instance, in the 2022/23 MY, EU rapeseed imports from Ukraine increased by 44% y/y, reaching 2.6 MMT. Though this growth wasn’t unprecedented — similar volumes were recorded in 2019/20 (2.7 MMT) — what stood out was the sharp increase in imports specifically into neighboring EU countries between July 2022 and March 2023. 

Disrupted sea exports made it nearly impossible for Ukraine to ship sunflower oil to major buyers such as India and China, resulting in reduced domestic sunflower seed crushing. This, in turn, triggered an unprecedented surge in sunflower seed exports from the country.

According to the European Commission, in the 2022/23 MY, EU imports of sunflower seed from Ukraine surged by 183% y/y, reaching a historic high of 1.7 MMT. The growth began in April 2022 and continued for a full year, until April 2023.

Once again, five neighboring countries played a central role, with Bulgaria recording the largest increase in imports of Ukrainian sunflower seed.

Regulatory response: temporary EU measures and national bans

The influx of Ukrainian rapeseed and sunflower seed, as well as wheat and corn, caused market disruptions in the five neighbouring countries, resulting in storage issues and declining prices for local farmers. As a result, in April 2023, they unilaterally imposed bans on imports of the affected products. The European Commission initially deemed these actions incompatible with the EU’s single market rules, but shortly thereafter, on 2 May 2023, it adopted Regulation (EU) 2023/903, introducing preventive measures on four Ukrainian-origin agricultural products: wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower seed.

These measures applied specifically to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. While imports for domestic consumption were temporarily restricted, the regulation allowed the transit of these goods through the five countries to other EU member states or third countries.

To help mitigate the impact on local farmers, the European Commission also allocated 100 MLN EU in financial assistance to the five affected countries.

Originally scheduled to expire on 5 June 2023, the regulation was later extended until 15 September 2023. Upon its expiration, the European Commission concluded that market distortions in the five member states bordering Ukraine had subsided.

However, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia went on to reinstate national bans on Ukrainian agricultural imports, prompting Ukraine to file formal complaints against all three countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

That said, despite these national bans, the EU’s share in Ukraine’s rapeseed exports continued to grow. In the 2022/23 MY, it accounted for 89% (3.1 MMT), and in 2023/24, the share rose further to 91% (3.4 MMT). In the current season, EU’s share remains high at 90% (2.71 MMT).


As for the EU’s share in Ukraine’s sunflower seed exports, it remains dominant. In the 2022/23 MY, the EU accounted for 79%, with volumes reaching a historically high 1.5 MMT. In 2023/24, total exports returned to more typical levels, amounting to 260 KMT, while the EU’s share even increased slightly — to 82%. In 2024/25 MY (September-March), Ukraine increased its dependance on European market, as 97% of all seed were export to the EU, however the volumes were low (just 63 KMT).


Soybeans and sunflower by-products 

As for Ukrainian soybeans, they were excluded from the EU’s trade restrictions — despite a notable surge in shipments in the 2022/23 MY, which reached 1.3 MMT, or 47% of Ukraine’s total soybean exports, representing a 1.6-fold increase y/y. That marked a peak in EU-bound soybean exports.


In 2023/24, the share declined to 35%, though the EU remained an important destination for Ukrainian soybeans. In the first seven months of the 2024/25 marketing year, Ukraine shipped 1.2 MMT of soybeans to the EU, accounting for 44% of total exports.

The full article is available to ASAP Premium subscribers.