Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovic, left, meets Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan at the latter's official residence in Tokyo, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011.(AP Photo/Issei Kato, Pool) Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych agreed Tuesday to promote investment as well as sharing of information and technologies in the agricultural sector. Under a joint statement issued after their talks at Kan's office, the two noted that Ukraine has a "high potential for increasing agricultural production, grains in particular, which may positively contribute to the global balance of food supplies." To help in Ukraine's economic development, the two countries signed a deal for a loan from Japan worth up to 8 billion yen via the state-backed Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Ukraine will offer a stable supply of farm products to Japan, according to the statement.

Prior to the summit talks between Kan and Yanukovych, Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and his Ukraine counterpart Kostyantyn Gryshchenko agreed to boost bilateral ties by holding a meeting of the Japan-Ukraine Cooperation Committee chaired by them later this year. Maehara also showed eagerness to promote Japanese investment in the Ukraine farm sector to expand agricultural production in the country as part of Tokyo's policy of securing food supply, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The only question we have is whether the government of Ukraine expects to earn all the money from this transaction or will farmers and businesses get some of the rewards as well. As far as we know Ukrainian taxpayers paid for President Yanukoviches trip, so they should get the benefits.

UkrAgroConsult