Food Security in Times of Covid-19: Price Aspects in Ukraine and Neighboring EU Countries

So far, all countries around the world have to deal with the Covid-19 challenge. As imperative, it includes providing food security subject to pandemic restrictions and consequences. The study purpose took focus on exploring price dynamics observed for basic crop and animal products. The research hypothesis supposed different volatility of their prices linked with a certain similarity across the considered Eastern European countries. The utilized methods involved candlestick charting and analysis of variance ANOVA to compare the food price indices and changes in times of the Covid-19 between February and December 2020 with regard to the corresponding preCovid-19 period. The research findings revealed stable pricing for bread and cheese with fluctuations below 4%. The study outcomes indicated the most disruptive Covid-19 impact on potato and pork. The latter largely associated with Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. Prices for sugar and eggs in Ukraine gained by 46.2% to 30.4% and illuminated unhealthy shifts in dietary patterns. The basic research conclusions are as follows. Firstly, food chains in animal husbandry need special enhancements to face the Covid19 crisis. Secondly, the evidenced price volatility coupled with the decreasing purchasing power are the reasons to concern on providing balanced nutrition and healthy diets in Ukraine and the neighboring EU countries.