Canadian companies seek partners in Ukraine

Roseanne Wowchuk, Manitoba Secretary of Agriculture and Food, had a two-day working visit to Kyiv. She was accompanied by officials from Saskatchewan and Alberta. Ms. Wowchuk met with Ukrainian officials at the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, Academy of Agrarian Sciences, and National Agrarian University. Her visit was extremely timely, considering that Ukraine is struggling to carry out its own agrarian reform. Despite the tight schedule, Ms. Wowchuk (she is of Ukrainian origin with relatives in Ternopil oblast) kindly agreed to a interview with The Day.

You haven’t visited Ukraine for two years. Can you see any changes?

I think that a lot has changed; your economy is showing more activity and people have more opportunities to buy the things they need; the assortment has also increased. Your countryside has undergone substantial transformations: now you have private land ownership.

Your visit is primarily associated with the Canadian-Ukrainian cattle-breeding and fodder project. Would you please tell us about this project?

It’s a four-year project financed by the Canadian International Development Agency. It is nearing completion. Under this project Canadian experts visited Ukraine to share their knowledge and experience. Two Canadian provinces, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, are involved, for both have a lot in common with Ukraine in terms of weather and soil conditions. The project is aimed at the transfer of advanced Canadian cattle-breeding technologies to Ukrainian counterparts in certain regions. This transfer made it possible to improve the quality of fodder and breeding techniques. Another direction of the project envisages improving livestock’s genetic properties by contributing Canadian genetic material. Our next project is planned in Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Rivne, and Sumy oblasts.

Could Ukrainian meat products compete on world markets, particularly in Canada?

Our project is geared to improve the quality of beef, so it can satisfy the domestic consumer and access other markets. I think that Ukrainian products could be competitive on world markets provided all the available possibilities are utilized.

We know that you intend to study the possibility of expanding commercial cooperation between Manitoba’s private sector and Ukrainian agrarian concerns. Would you please specify?

In addition to technological aid, we would very much want Canadian agribusiness firms to find commercial partners in Ukraine. This is one of the tasks of our mission. And we don’t want to confine our efforts to beef cattle- breeding and animal husbandry; there are other quite effective technologies. Our hopes to find partners in Ukraine are becoming a possibility, considering that the situation in the Ukrainian agrarian sector is quickly changing for the better.

This year, a sharp decline in milk purchasing prices was one of Ukraine’s worst problems, and the producers suffered heavy losses. In Canada, you have special stabilization programs securing the farmers’ guaranteed revenues (in one of your provinces it is 70% of the average income).

Yes, in Alberta.

How could Ukraine use this experience?

Various agricultural programs exist in Canada. One is meant to help farmers by financing some of their expenses when buying material and technical resources. The harvest insurance program allows farmers to insure 50-70% of the grain crops against force majeure circumstances. This experience was described in detail during our seminars in Ukraine. Perhaps some of these programs could be adjusted to your country, although I understand that this would take time.

We know that Canada and several other countries suffered heavy grain harvest failures. In Ukraine, the crops were pretty good, so much so we joined the world’s leading grain exporting group. Will Ukraine remain in that group if the traditional leaders make up for their losses next year?

In 2002, Canada suffered perhaps the worst harvest failures in its history, there were heavy droughts in some territories of Saskatchewan and Alberta. As a result, we don’t have as much grain for exports as usual and some regions will have to buy fodder grain to supply their animal husbandry needs. Ukraine’s presence on the world grain market will, of course, depend on a number of circumstances. But if you can maintain a certain grain output level, you will always have markets waiting for you.

THE DAY’S REFERENCE

Roseanne Wowchuk’s parents are Ukrainian emigrants. She was born and grew up in Cowan, a small town in Manitoba. She still lives there with a husband and three children. Ms. Wowchuk studied at the Manitoba Teachers College and taught at several schools, while co-owning a farm. In 1995, she was appointed secretary of agriculture of the opposition party. In September 1999, when the party formed a majority in the provincial parliament, Roseanne Wowchuk became Secretary of Agriculture and Food for the province of Manitoba.