Growing trade cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Dnipropetrovsk region

Saudi Arabia supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and takes a principled position within international organisations, and is interested in investing in Ukraine and rebuilding our country’s infrastructure. Riyadh has supported UN Security Council resolutions condemning russian aggression and the annexation of Ukrainian territories by russia.

Saudi Arabia demonstrates its status and readiness for a mediation mission, competing with Turkey, which also claims to be actively involved in attempts to mediate the war between Ukraine and russia, namely the exchange of prisoners and the return of illegally deported Ukrainian children.

On August 5-6, 2023, a meeting of advisers of state leaders on the Ukrainian ” Peace Formula” took place in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), where 42 countries were represented. The meeting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was a step towards the implementation of peace initiatives proposed by Ukraine. In Jeddah, an understanding emerged that “respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine must be at the heart of any peace agreement, as well as the supremacy of the UN Charter”.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has sent a humanitarian aid shipment to Kherson region, including 33 generators with a capacity of 10 to 32 kW, blankets and hygiene products for adults. The UAIM Humanitarian Fund assisted in its receipt. Since the beginning of the full-scale intervention of Russia to Ukraine, the Government of Saudi Arabia has donated 168 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Ukraine and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are in the process of agreeing on a bilateral veterinary certificate, which will open the market for Ukrainian lamb in SA. In particular, the parties agreed that the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection will receive additional application forms from the SFDA for Ukrainian beef producers to fill out for the purpose of their accreditation.

Promising areas for Ukrainian-Saudi cooperation are energy (oil and gas, renewable energy sources and their development), construction (infrastructure projects), transport (air, sea, urban), water management (housing and utilities), and mechanical engineering. At the same time, it is important to attract Ukrainian technologies to the Kingdom, combine the capabilities of Ukraine and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to implement joint projects in both countries and third countries.

A Saudi company from the Fursi Energy Group will build a solar power plant on a 42-hectare land plot in Boryslav, Lviv region, which is expected to be launched in spring 2025.

Saudi Arabia stays an important commercial partner for Dnipropetrovsk region. The growing level of partnerships is evidenced by the bilateral analysis of foreign trade.

Saudi companies are most interested in ferrous metals and products made from them, fats and vegetable oil, railway locomotive parts, electrical machinery, etc. The volume of exports of goods from Dnipropetrovsk region amounted to $46.8 million and increased by 20.3% compared to 2021.

26 companies of Dnipropetrovsk region exported their products to the Saudi market, including metallurgical, food, agricultural and machine-building enterprises.

TOP 5 companies by volume of exported products are the following:

Meanwhile, 29 importers in the region bought Saudi goods mostly, namely plastics and polymeric materials, tanning extracts, organic chemicals, and other products. Imports of goods from Saudi Arabia to Dnipropetrovsk region decreased by 27.3% to $16.5 million.

TOP 5 importers by volume of imported products are the following companies:

Imports were mainly carried out by enterprises of chemical and processing industries as well as trade enterprises.  

Source: information for the article was taken from open online sources