April 16 2003, 16:05 APK-Inform

Ukraine's agriculture may not receive about $100 million of investments

At a press conference April 16 in the press centre UNIAN the General Director of Ukrainian Grain Association Volodymyr Klymenko has informed journalists that due to unstable situation in domestic grain market lots of credit lines, supposed to be invested in agriculture of Ukraine, are now frozen. Financing has been stopped on the discretion of both foreign companies - operators of Ukrainian market - and banks which should have provided the loans. Some $100 million have been "hanged up" in the critical time for Ukrainian farming, Klymenko said.

However: "It is a natural situation. As soon as risks increase, financing decreases", he added.

Agriculture ministry's data show that necessary costs of farmwork in 2003 will make 9.4 billion hryvnias. The cost of spring fieldworks is estimated at 1.9 billion hryvnias, that of the works on reseeding winter grains - at 1.2 billion hrivnias (5.33 hryvnias = $1).