24tv.ua
Export-oriented agricultural enterprises in Ukraine continue generating profit despite the fact that in the past few years, global food prices have settled at their lowest level, Ukrainian Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Oleksiy Pavlenko said in an interview with CNBC Channel in Europe.
The minister noted that the Ukrainian agricultural sector engaged in exports takes advantage of the weakening of the national currency despite declining prices of food on the global markets. The hryvnia has lost its value against the dollar by more than three times in recent years, which has resulted in a decrease in the costs of local farm produce.
Pavlenko says he does not expect a further decrease in agricultural commodity prices on world markets. According to him, the prices have stabilized and may start rising.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has registered the sharpest decline in food prices over the past seven years. Food prices in August saw a further downward trend of previous months, driven by cheaper oil prices and concern over China's stuttering economy, as well as abundant food supplies.
At the same time, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk noted that the drop in oil prices has an impact on the cost of chemical fertilizers and fuel, which, in turn, translates in a reduction in production costs in the agricultural sector. According to him, no signs as for the reduction in profitability of agricultural enterprises are foreseen in the near future.
Ukraine's agricultural sector was able to export products worth $7.7 billion in the seven months of the current year, despite pressure on Ukrainian exporters from Russia, which accounts for 35% of total forex receipts from exports.