Ukraine Will Not Import Grain, So Far

Ukraine’s State Reserve has a sufficient quantity of grain at its disposal, Yevhen Chervonenko, Chairman of the State Material Resources Management Agency, said last Wednesday, addressing the Market Reforms Press Club.

“I can allay all your fears: the reserve is now larger than the state emergency stock,” he stressed.

According to Mr. Chervonenko, the State Reserve has purchased from farmers several hundred thousand tons of newly-harvested third class wheat at the price of UAH 750 per ton and is now selling fuel and lubricants “as an incentive.” However, from now on, he underlined, the State Reserve will pursue the policy of buying grain for “live money.”

The agency head expressed an opinion that the State Reserve should buy the bulk of grain today, “and not in December or January, when its price peaks.”

Stressing that Ukraine will not import grain as long it has enough on the domestic market, Mr. Chervonenko still said negotiations are now underway on the possibility of purchasing grain in Kazakhstan.