Kiev expects no problems with grain storage in 2023 season

MOSCOW. July 31 (Interfax) - Ukrainian farmers do not see any shortage of grain storage capacities this year thanks to grain sleeves provided by donors in 2022, head of the Verkhovna Rada's Agrarian and Land Policy Committee Alexander Gaidu said.

"Now, we are not experiencing any shortages of grain storage facilities. Ukrainian farmers received sleeves for storing 15 million tonnes of grain and equipment to load and unload this grain from our partners free of charge last year. This equipment was sufficient for us to save last year's harvest. That is why, given the pace of the crop harvesting campaign, we see that there will not be any shortage of places for storage," Ukrainian media quoted Gaidu as saying in a statement circulated by the Ukrainian parliament's press service.

That said, should a lack of the storage space emerge, Ukraine still has grain storage sleeves from last year that have not been used, he said.

"In any case, we may redistribute them and provide farmers with the required equipment," Gaidu said.

While commenting on farmers' shift from grain to growing oilseeds, Gaidu explained that with Ukrainian farmers' ability to react to problems on the market.

"Soybeans, sunflower seeds, rapeseeds, although their yield is lower, one tonne of these crops is more expensive. Indeed, our agricultural sector will sell smaller amounts of crops, but it will get bigger revenue for them," he said.