In 2018, ha, which gives the country the second place among the world leaders in terms of the rate of expansion of the area under this berry.

Ukraine in this regard is second only to Peru, where the annual increase in area under blueberries is 2 hectares, according to a statement by the representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Andrei Yarmak, made during the Global Berry Congress in Rotterdam.

Five years ago, Ukraine did not participate in world exports of blueberries at all. Now the country has taken a leading position in the sale of this berry abroad. Andrei Yarmak predicts a doubled export of blueberries in 2019, which will amount to about 5 thousand tons. But such an increase in exports will not be easy. Many berry producers are not yet ready for the high quality standards of the European Union market, and it will be even more difficult to supply products to Belarus or Russia than today.The current growth rate of export sales of blueberries brought Ukraine to third place in the world. The first positions in this list are Peru and Portugal. The increase in exports of Ukrainian blueberries, Rabobank expert Cindy Van Riisvik estimates as 60% per year. At the same time, production volumes are not very large in comparison with leading world exporters such as Spain, Chile and Peru. EastFruit analysts predict a rapid increase in the volume of blueberry cultivation in Ukraine in 2019, which will help reduce the cost of berries in the country.