Cheese has made up over 80% of the value of Ukraine’s dairy imports for years. In August 2026 its share fell below 77% for the first time in a long while — but not because less cheese is arriving.
Cheese has long dominated the value structure of Ukraine’s dairy imports, consistently above 80% and at times reaching 85%. But in August 2026, the share of HS 0406 (cheese of all kinds) in total dairy imports (HS 0401–0406, by value) fell below 77% for the first time in a long period.
Second place in August 2026 went, as usual, to fermented dairy (6.5%), followed closely by whey (5.6%), unconcentrated milk and cream (almost 5.0%) and butter (4.5%). A year earlier, in August 2025, cheese’s share was 82.3%, fermented dairy no more than 6%, and each other category below 3.7%.
More cheese arrives, yet its share falls
Cheese imports reached 4,500 tonnes, or $25.7 million, in August 2026 — well above August 2025’s 3,300 tonnes and $21.6 million. So cheese imports rose 35.6% by volume and 19% by value year on year, yet cheese’s share of import value fell 5.5 percentage points, squeezed out by other categories despite the sharp rise in cheese volumes.
What is squeezing cheese out
Butter imports in August 2026 were 2.8 times higher by volume and 1.6 times higher by value than in August 2025; whey imports were 1.7 times higher by volume and over 1.9 times higher by value. The fall in cheese’s share therefore reflects two factors: rising imports of other dairy categories, and lower cheese prices in the EU.
Source: Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine (UDEU analytics)
