Сельское хозяйство

The State Statistics Committee released a report showing that Ukraine’s grain reserves have increased by 26% YoY to 8.4 mln mt of grain. In particular, wheat amounted to 4.2 mln mt, corn increased to 1.8 mln mt, barley totaled 1.2 mln mt and rye came in at 0.4 mln mt. Furthermore, sunflower seeds now total 1.6 mln mt.

According to Mr. Melnik, the Minister of Agriculture, Ukraine’s government will sell sugar from the State Reserve. The volume of sugar sold will depend on the market demand, though a total 40 thsd mt of sugar is available. Earlier, the government commissioned a state committee to sell 10 thsd mt of sugar to retail companies in order to stabilize domestic sugar prices.

The Ministry of Agriculture decreased its forecasted 2009 grain harvest from its previously estimated 48 mln mt of grain to roughly 42-43 mln mt. Mr. Melnik, the Minister of Agriculture, stated that the wheat harvest would decrease by 22.8% YoY to 20 mln mt, the corn harvest is expected to shrink by 8% YoY and the barley harvest will drop by 20.6%.

At a meeting in St Petersburg the Ukrainian, Russian and Kazakh ministers of agriculture disclosed the intention of creating a Black Sea region grain pool.

Astarta [AST PW, BUY], announced the completion of its spring sowing campaign, and with it some increasing figures.

According to the Ukrainian Agrarian Association (UAA), Ukraine’s grain exports reached 1.8 mln mt in May. In particular, traders exported 0.97 mln mt of wheat, 0.66 mln mt of corn and 0.15 mln mt of barley.

The US Department of Agriculture decreased its estimates on Ukraine’s harvest in the 2009/10 marketing year by 27.5% YoY to 38.6 mln mt of grain. According to the USDA, Ukraine will harvest 19 mln mt of mill quality grain and 19.7 mln mt of fodder grain. Consequently, Ukraine’s wheat and barley exports will shrink to 7 mln mt and 5.7 mln mt respectively.

The Government of Ukraine has finally allocated UAH 2.2 bln (USD 0.3 bln) from the Stabilization Fund for agrarian needs. In particular, UAH 800 mln (USD 104.8 mln) will be directed for reimbursing bank interest, whereUAH 120 mln (USD 15.7 mln) is specified for the reimbursement of loans attracted by farmers for implementing innovation projects.

As of May 15, 2009, 88.9% of the winter crop in Ukraine is either in good or satisfactory condition. According to an official statement made by the Ministry of Agriculture, 54.1% (5.3 mln ha) of the crop is in good condition, and 34.8% (3.4 mln ha) is in satisfactory condition.

Astarta [AST PW, BUY] posted its unaudited 1Q09 financial and operational results on its web-site. The company increased its revenues by 55.2% YoY to UAH 233.8 mln (USD 30.6 mln), EBITDA shrank by 36.4% YoY to UAH 41.2 mln (USD 5.4 mln) and net income shriveled to UAH 9.6 (USD 1.3 mln).