Losses from John Deere

The foreign goods loan under government guarantee for the contract between the Ukrainian Agrarian Stock Exchange and John Deere Export (US) to deliver John Deere combine harvesters worth $200 million was issued in violation of the established procedure and has caused a substantial loss of budget funds. The Accounting Chamber based this finding on the results of an inspection into the contract fulfillment, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

According to the Accounting Chamber’s report, “ineffective managerial decisions of the central executive bodies” during contract implementation “have caused damage to the domestic producers of goods.”

As reported previously, the machinery procurement organizers had given preference to the John Deere Company because it had announced its intention to set up a joint venture with Ukraine to produce grain-harvesting machinery. However, this never happened, and jobs were provided to “hundreds of high skilled workers in seven states of the US, England, Brazil, and Spain” but not Ukraine, says the Accounting Chamber. As of November 1 of this year, the foreign creditor was paid $131 million from the state budget, and $106 million will still have to be paid.