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Mark Iwashko

Mark Iwashko is the founder and co-managing partner of Diligent Capital, a private equity firm focused on investing in developing agribusiness in Ukraine and the wider Black Sea region.

Articles

A combine loads grain into a truck during a wheat harvest in a field in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, on July 16, 2024.

Ukraine must look beyond the EU for its agricultural future

by Mark Iwashko
The end of the European Union’s tariff-free trade preferences for Ukrainian agricultural products is more than just a policy change, it’s a wake-up call. For years, the EU has served as the largest and most reliable market for Ukraine’s agricultural exports. But as Brussels rolls back preferential quotas, Ukraine must rapidly diversify and open up new non-EU markets to safeguard its economy and cement its role in global food security. Ukraine stands at a trading crossroads. It must now decide