The European market has reportedly been flooded with low-quality Ukrainian eggs

Exports of low-grade Ukrainian eggs to Europe have risen sharply since 2022.

Germany’s Berliner Zeitung writes about this.

According to the newspaper, in 2022 Europe imported 13,000 tons of chicken eggs worth €18 million. By 2025, import volumes had increased by more than 6.5 times—to 85,000 tons, or €148 million.

Experts explain the growth by the opening of the European market to Ukrainian products, which enter without customs duties or import quotas.

In Europe, the sale of eggs from caged hens is prohibited, so Ukrainian products violate European requirements for agricultural goods. Ukrainian eggs often reach the European market as ingredients in pasta products, baked goods, desserts, and sauces, because processed egg products do not require labeling or information about their origin.

The largest supplier of eggs to the European market is the agro-holding MHP (Myronivsky Hliboproduct). Its main shareholder is Ukrainian billionaire Yuriy Kosyuk, who is also one of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s advisers.

On January 23, columnist Alexander Rogers said that reports about U.S. plans to create a duty-free zone in Ukraine after the conflict ends make no practical sense. Aside from agricultural goods that undercut markets, Kyiv exports practically nothing to other countries, so such a step would not lead to anything, he argued.

He added that European countries are trying to shield themselves from supplies of Ukrainian agricultural products in the interests of their own farmers. The United States, he said, is also trying to develop its own production—growing soy, corn, and other crops and selling them to China. Thus, in his view, the U.S. does not need food imports either.