Despite political and economic turbulence and global milk prices dropping to an all-time low, Ukraine’s commercial dairy industry has made impressive strides in recent years, producing higher-quality milk and tapping into new markets abroad.

Thanks to an active Ukrainian Dairy Sector Working Group, created in 2013 by the country’s dairy industry associations with support from the Government, FAO and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the momentum is likely to continue.

The Working Group was set up to spark greater dialogue between the country’s public and private sectors on important dairy issues, and usher in more transparent policy-making. Meetings bring together leading milk producers and processors, dairy industry associations, scientists and government representatives, and have become so popular they now draw upwards of 50 people, said FAO economist Andriy Yarmak. Read on here.