THE IMPORTS OF PROCESSED FRUIT PRODUCTS FROM UKRAINE TO THE EU MEMBER STATES AFTER TRADE LIBERALIZATION IN 2022

Aim: The aim of the study was to analyze how the decision to establish free trade between Ukraine and the European Union after the Russian invasion of Ukraine influenced the volume of imports of selected fruit products to the EU Member States, especially to Poland. Material and Methods:The Eurostat (Comext) database was used as a source of data showing the monthly volume (kg) of imports of fruit products (according to the CN code) from Ukraine to individual EU Member States between June 2017 and May 2024.The imports of the following fruit products were analyzed: apple juice concentrate, frozen: cherries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackcurrants.The study was based on the descriptive method and statistical methods: arithmetic mean and single-base index.Results: The liberalisation of trade with Ukraine caused an increase in the imports of most the aforementioned fruit products to the EU.The volume of imports of apple juice concentrate increased nine times, frozen blackcurrants-over seven times, frozen raspberries-three times, frozen strawberriesby only 3%, whereas the volume of imports of frozen sour cherries decreased by more than a half.After the trade liberalization, processed fruit products were also imported from Ukraine by those countries which did not import them in the reference period.Poland was the largest importer of each of those processed fruit products from Ukraine.After the trade liberalization, the highest increase in the imports of apple juice concentrate, frozen raspberries, and frozen blackcurrants was observed in Poland.Conclusions: Fruit production and processing in Poland is well-developed.Further liberalization of trade with Ukraine may cause problems for fruit producers in Poland.They may experience difficulties in selling these products for processing or the sales prices may not be satisfactory.