price,
milk,
milk supply,
milk market
Milk producers suffer from collusion of processors
The Association of milk producers (AMP) has submitted an application to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine on unjustified reduction of purchasing prices for raw milk and the possible collusion of processing plants.
This is reported by the press service of the AMP.
In March AMP called for dialogue between the representatives of the processing plants of dairy products, which since late January have been reducing the procurement prices for raw milk, but the later did not respond to calls for a "healthy" debate. There was subsequently held a press conference on the theme: “Milk rivers flow away from Ukraine, or Why there won’t be a season of “great milk” in Ukraine, where the speakers were processors as well. However, it did not affect the situation with purchasing prices for raw milk.
Even in February the heads of households-members of the Association members stared to address to the AMP to immediately intervene in the crisis caused by the rapid and simultaneous across the market decline in purchase prices for raw milk.
After all, during three months the purchase prices fell by more than 1 UAH and now make on average in Ukraine 7.8 UAH/kg at a cost of 8.5 UAH/kg and dairy products on the shelves are becoming more and more expensive. Thus, since 27 January to 28 April, the retail price for milk increased from 23.47 to 24.25 UAH/kg (+78 kopecks), for butter — from 167.46 to 180.90 UAH/kg (+13.44 UAH), for cheese — from 158.51 to 167.64 UAH/kg (+9.13 UAH).
The Head of Ukrainian agrarian Council (UAC) Andrey Dykun commented on the situation in which each farmer receives less and less for manufactured products, and the consumer pays for it many times more.
"Since February this year AMP emphasizes that there is a baseless reduction of prices for raw milk by processing enterprises. And in parallel with this the increase in the cost of almost all the dairy products on the shelves. Indeed, the Association tried to meet with representatives of the processing plants, but the majority ignored the initiative. We believe that this is a collusion and therefore we use our constitutional right, defending the interests of milk producers and the population that is forced to pay ultra-high price for dairy products relative to the cost of raw milk", — said Andrey Dykun.
If this pricing policy continues and does not align, it should be emphasized that the domestic milk producer will lose motivation to be engaged in animal husbandry.