The World Bank on Thursday called on leading grain producer Ukraine to immediately fulfil a promise to lift export quotas to help ease a global food crisis, according to Thompson Financial.
"We urge the authorities in Ukraine to implement the announced decision fully and with immediate effect," the Ukraine office of the international financial institution said in a statement.
Lifting quotas will allow Ukraine to benefit from high global prices and "will increase the global supply of grains thus helping to alleviate the global food crisis."
In April, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko called for the lifting of all restrictions on grain exports, but the government has since put off the move until July 1 amid fears of higher domestic prices.
Tymoshenko said Ukraine was to harvest up to 50 million tons of grain this year. In 2007, Ukraine harvested 29.3 million tons of grain, 14.5 percent less than in 2006.
