KYIV. Aug 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukraine’s potential for grain exports in the 2015/2016 marketing year (July through June) is estimated at 36-40 million tonnes, Director General of the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation Serhiy Stoianov has said.
“The grain supply projected for the 2015/2016 marketing year in Ukraine may be 70-74 million tonnes, which includes ending stocks from the previous marketing year. The amount is enough to meet domestic demand, projected at 24 million tonnes, ensure potential exports projected at 36-40 million tonnes and reliable ending stocks for the next year, expected at 9.5 million tonnes,” a post on the UAC’s website quotes Stoianov as saying.
The UAC forecasts that in the 2015-2016 marketing year Ukraine may harvest over 25 million tonnes of wheat, 8 million tonnes of barley, 28.5 million tonnes of maize and over 1.5 million tonnes of other crops. Thus, the gross yield of grain over the period under review is estimated at 63 million tonnes.
Stoianov said there are good prospects for oilseeds and grain crops, namely soybeans, sunflower seeds and rapeseeds.
Stoianov’s forecasts for oilseeds are based on information about areas sown with crops and expected yields.
In autumn 2014, Ukrainian farmers sowed 8.5 million hectares with winter crops, which is more than during the autumn that preceded the war in Donbas. In the spring, they added about 15 million hectares of spring grain, leguminous and oil-yielding crops.
Stoianov claims that the crop yield, which is over 34 centners [one metric centner equals 100 kg] per hectare in the current marketing year, compared to 34.3 centners per hectare in the previous marketing year, is acceptable.
The government should listen to farmers who are leading compared with other sectors of the economy and who ensure that receipts of foreign currency are transferred to the country, Stoianov said.
He claims that the state should stop trying to cancel benefits for Ukrainian farmers, including the accumulation of value added tax, which is “beggarly” compared to other Eastern European countries.
In his words, the state also owes about UAH 800 million in accounts payable for two years under programs for agricultural support.
