SFGCU To Deliver 3.5 Million Tons Of Grain Under Chinese Contract In Current Agricultural Year

The State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (SFGCU) plans to export 3.5 million tons of grain under a loan agreement with China before the end of 2015. The corporation’s acting Board Chairman Valerii Tomilenko announced this on the Rada television channel, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reports.

"Our contract provides for export of large quantities of grain every year. This year – the contract works on calendar years – we plan to export more than 3.5 million tons. In total, the contract provides for export of 5 million tons in the so-called marketing year," Tomilenko said.

According to him, the corporation’s Chinese partners are interested "in the contract being alive." "Unfortunately, it (the Chinese partner) is a little tired of the frequent changes of the management of the company, In 2.5 years of its existence, I am the fifth head of the board... It makes the Chinese partners ask the question, ‘When you are going to be appointed? We want to work with you, with your team," he said.

According to him, the president of the CCEC company came to Ukraine in late November 2014 and held a meeting with the Prime Minister. The head of the Chinese company said that the contract was under the threat of non-implementation.

"There was a big logistical problem involving implementation of the contract in 2014. About 0.5 million tons of grain should have been sent in a very short time and we had no right not to send it within that period because the grain was delivered under Chinese import licenses, which are issued and controlled by the Chinese government," said Tomilenko.

He also said that would participate in the repeat competition for the post of head of the State Food and Grain Corporation. "Of course, I will take part in it. My team and I have started a lot of different work, and it would be very disappointing to abandon it in the middle of the road," he said.

As reported, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy & Food reprimanded Tomilenko on 15 April for abusing his authority during the signing of a supplementary agreement to the general agreement with the CCEC.

The State Food and Grain Corporation reached an agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China for a loan of USD 1.5 billion in 2012. The loan was intended for purchase of grain for subsequent export under trade agreements with China. On the Chinese side, the operator of this 15-year contract was the CCEC.