Ukraine asks European Commission for compensation in agricultural exports

MOSCOW. Aug 23 (Interfax) - The European Commission's decision to compensate the cost of logistics in the transportation of Ukrainian agricultural products via seaports of Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, Slovenia and the Netherlands would raise the capacity for smooth exports of the kind, Ukrainian First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky said.

"The Agrarian Policy Ministry and the government have asked the European Commission to compensate the cost of logistics to Ukrainian farmers in the mount of 30 euros per tonne. The provision of such subsidies, to be paid only for the delivery of products to distant European ports, will improve the exports and, in particular, will have a positive effect on transit via Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria," Ukrainian media quoted Vysotsky as saying in the United News telethon.

Now that the Black Sea Grain Initiative has stopped working, the cost of Ukrainian grain transportation to distant European ports is very high for farmers, Vysotsky said. Ukrainian farmers continue to lose money in further transportation of their products from the ports to Africa, Asia and the Middle East, he said.

Ukraine has asked Turkey, the UN and other international partners to facilitate Ukrainian grain exports, Vysotsky said.