The difficult situation of Ukrainian producers of agricultural products threatens world hunger, because without a significant increase in exports within the framework of the UN agreement, Ukrainian agricultural producers will not be able to afford to plant next year’s crop.
In an interview with The Times, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Markiyan Dmytrasevich talked about the key export problems Ukrainian farmers faced with.
Yes, first of all it is the price. “The result of low export opportunities is low domestic prices – $70 per ton, but it costs $ 100 to grow. And to transport it to Constanta [Romania], you need to spend [another] 200 dollars. The main question of our farmers is what is the point of planting winter crops, in particular wheat?” Markiyan Dmytrasevich said.
At the same time, before the Russian invasion, Ukraine provided more than 30.9% of grain in Egypt, 11.7% in Morocco, 7.7% in Yemen, and 7% in Bangladesh. In these countries, as the Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy noted, families spend 50% of their budget on food, and they will starve. If we cannot export more, there will be local conflict in these countries and a new wave of migration to Europe.
Also, now the Black Sea ports are temporarily unblocked, it is “disappointing” that more shipping companies are not taking advantage of the agreement, which will be in place for at least 120 days, he added. According to him, buyers were waiting to see what would happen with the initial deliveries.
“It’s hard to see the results of that right now. We have to wait until the end of August to see if this affects the market. We understand that the Russians can stop this grain corridor, but we hope that it will work,” said the Deputy Minister.