February 2, 2004

Ukraine Government To Buy Two Million MT 2004 Grain For State Reserve

Ukraine's government intends to buy two million metric tons of domestic grain, to be harvested this year, for the state reserve, Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Kirilenko said in Kiev Friday.

Kirilenko said there was no budget allocation at present for the grain purchases but the government was confident it would find the necessary 300-400 million hryvnias ($1=UAH5.33).

He said last year there was no such allocation either, but the parliament approved changes to the state budget to provide the money. The government was confident the parliament would do the same this year, Kirilenko said.