"We are currently unable to fulfill all the clauses of the contract, and this primarily concerns the supply of the declared volumes of corn, which we were supposed to buy and export to China," Serhii Labaziuk, the First Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Agrarian Policy, said in a commentary to the Center for Transport Strategies portal.
"Secondly, we were supposed to buy Chinese products worth USD 1.5 billion. What we should buy was not specified, and several options were considered. Either crop protection agents or, as an option, construction of two plants for production of pesticides on the territory of Ukraine. Another option is purchase of grain cars, of which there is currently a shortage in Ukraine. Finally, there were plans to construct grain elevators,” said Labaziuk.
This program was not compulsory for implementation in 2013, but Ukraine was supposed to issue goods for USD 200-300 million out of this USD 1.5 billion. According to Labaziuk, the possibility of the Chinese Eximbank partially suspending funding for the agreement with Ukraine was raised during the last meeting in China. "Or, to be precise, it may postpone it because we are not fully fulfilling all the conditions. However, if nothing changes, the President of Ukraine will meet with the President of China on November 4, and all the documents are now being prepared for signing," Labaziuk said.
Asked why the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (SFGCU) is unable to conclude contracts with farmers for the necessary quantities of corn, Labaziuk said this was due primarily to bureaucracy.
