Ukraine is interested in the idea of creating a grain pool with Russia and Kazakhstan, but on condition it retains its status as an independent player on the world grain market, First Deputy Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Ivan Bisyuk said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.

"Right now that issue is of interest to us," Bisyuk said. "But we don't want to be dependent in any way on other countries," he said.

The Ukrainian side is intensively studying this question and would like to collaborate with its Russian and Kazakh colleagues on the information exchange level.

No decision can be taken on participation in the grain pool until careful study of the issue has been completed.

It is critical for Ukraine to remain an independent player on the world grain market, where it is one of the world's leaders. This marketing year Ukraine could export 28 million tonnes of grain, making it the second biggest exporter, Bisyuk said, citing projects from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The issue of the need to create a Black Sea grain pool was first raised at the first World Grain Forum, held in St. Petersburg in June 2009. The pool would make it possible for the three prospective members to devise a single trade policy on the world market, to avoid destructive competition among themselves. The idea was not put into practice, but has regularly come up for discussion since then.

The Russian Grain Union estimates that pursuit of their own grain policies on the world market costs Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan $10 per tonne on the price of grain they export.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his Ukrainian counterpart, Mykola Azarov, discussed the grain pool ideal at a meeting in Sochi on Friday, July 12. On Monday, Deputy Agriculture Minister Ilya Shestyakov told journalists creation of a Black Sea grain pool by Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan would be a key issue under discussion at the World Grain Forum to be held in Moscow on October 9.


 

World Grain