Up to 10,000 tonnes of grain of Ukrainian origin is thrown out into the Black Sea every night. It was loaded into portal elevators last summer, according to a report by UT 1 TV, translated by the BBC Monitoring Service.

It should have been exported, but the cabinet [PM Yanukovych`s Cabinet of Ministers] introduced quotas on grain exports from Ukraine. The cabinet`s reason was that there could be not enough wheat for domestic needs.

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Having been stored for six months, the grain spoiled, germinated and was attacked by insects. The volume of unusable grain amounts to some 270,000 tonnes and more grain of the same volume may spoil soon.

Farmers say the grain market in Ukraine is satiated with 6m [tonnes] of excess grain, which could be sold for 4bn hryvnyas [792m dollars].

However, rural residents will not receive this money due to the cabinet`s policy. They asked the cabinet to revise it [to no avail].

[Leonid Kozachenko, chairman of the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation] It is a paradox situation that this country has never seen before.

Every night 5,000-10,000 tonnes of grain is thrown out into the  Black Sea, feeding fish. At the same time, we are looking for funds  for the agricultural sector.    

This news was monitored by the ArtUkraine Monitoring Service for the Action Ukraine Report.