August 22 2002, 09:23 UNIAN

Ukrainian government will not take pawned grain from farmers

Cabinet of Ministers will not coercively deprive farmers of their grain of 2002 crop, mortgaged as a collateral against budget indebtedness for the supplies provided to them, including foreign farm machinery, purchased under government's guarantees. This was reported by the Head of All-Ukrainian Union of Agricultural Enterprises Olexandr Borovyk after his meeting with the Prime Minister of Ukraine Anatoliy Kinakh.

He said that he and the Prime Minister had signed a joint declaration concerning the issue. He also informed that Prime Minister had promised to pass a resolution of the Cabinet, which would guarantee farmers that their grain would not be alienated.

The Head of the Union also noted that "The Law about Grain and Grain Market in Ukraine", which introduced the mechanism of mortgage grain purchases, stipulated that grain could devolve into the property of the state only after expiry of the term of mortgage purchase agreement, in case the farmer had not bought the grain out.