Ukraine has been provided with basic food products for several years, as well as raw materials for the production of animal feed, so no food problems are expected in the country in the near future, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Mykola Solsky told the Ekonomicheskaya Pravda publication.
“We have stocks of basic products for several years. Vegetable oil – at least for 10 years. Separately, we need to add, since we have a lot of grains, and some of them are animal feed, we definitely have meat and dairy products. And special There is no reason to worry here,” he said.
According to him, Ukraine annually consumes 5-7 million tons of grain crops, while 20 million tons of grain have already been placed in the country’s granaries since last season and 30 million tons of this season’s harvest are expected. Taking into account the elevator capacities available in the country, the main problem will be the export of crops to foreign markets in the conditions of the blockade of Ukrainian seaports by Russian warships, the head of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy stressed.
“We don’t see any problems with food in Ukraine now. They exist where it cannot be delivered, but this is different. Everyone sees that goods, their range in stores has decreased, but it exists. I have a feeling that the situation has begun to gradually recover “, – summed up Solsky.
As reported, before the Russian military invasion, Ukraine monthly exported up to 5 million tons of agricultural products through the ports of Odessa and Nikolaev, but now, due to their naval blockade by Russia, the country can transport about 500 thousand tons of grain monthly. This leads to a monthly shortfall of about $1.5 billion in export earnings.
Earlier, on April 13, UN Secretary General António Guterres said that the war in Ukraine could doom more than 1/5 of humanity to poverty, want and hunger unprecedented for decades.
