Page 53 - UKRRptJuly18

the State Weather Center, tells Unian. With temperatures still high through Sunday, she says as much as 30% of southern farm lands suffer from drought.
Despite drought in the southeast, the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry is sticking to its 2018 grain harvest forecast of 60mn tons. Last year’s harvest was 61.3mn tons. The ministry’s press service said: “Despite the fact that some areas in the south and east of the country remain without precipitates, the forecast of yield remains at the level of the past - 60mn tons.”
Sugar exports increase. In May Ukrainian producers delivered 54,000 tons of sugar to foreign markets, up by 29% from the previous month, Ukrinform reports. 72% went to Uzbekistan, 11% to the UK, 5% to Azerbaijan and 4% to Moldova. Ukraine’s total sugar exports for nine months up to the end of May 2018 were 433,300 tons, 36% down on the corresponding period the previous year.
Poultry up, cattle, pigs and sheep down. State Statistics Service reports that poultry grew by 1.7%, to 223.81mn birds as at 1 June 2018 whilst livestock stock fell by 4.6% y/y. The number of cows decreased by 3.7%, to 2.04mn, pigs by 5.7% in May 2018, to 6.37mn, and sheep and goats – by 4.1%, to 1.64mn animals.
Russia seizes 90% of Ukraine's Black Sea fishery resources and restricts access to Azov Sea. Andrei Kravchenko, Deputy head of the State Fishery Agency, notes that in such conditions, fishing in the Azov Sea remains important for Ukraine. But Russia is also restricting the entry of Ukrainian vessels into the Sea of Azov because of the newly opened bridge across the Kerch Straits connecting Crimea, which Russia occupies, with its mainland, controls and ensuing delays imposed on Ukrainian vessels, and military exercises. "Our business entities caught more than 37 thousand tons in the Azov Sea in 2018. It's pretty large quantity which partially maintains the food security of the country," Kravchenko told Radio Krym.Realii.
Australia’s grain giant GrainCorp has opened a branch in Ukraine,
according to the Ukrainian state registry. GrainCorp Ukraine Ltd, a subsidiary of the century old, publicly traded, Sydney-based company, plans to trade agricultural raw materials, grain, seeds, animal feed. Earlier this year, GrainCorp said it expected to be active in Ukraine for the 2018 new crop, Reuters reports.
Last year, Ukrainian farmers bought one third more tractors – 3 ,688 -- than in 2016, the Agrarian Policy Ministry reports. With an average price of $75,000, the most purchases were in Odesa, Vinnytsia, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk. Purchase of grain harvesters, a bigger ticket item, increased 12% to 1,026. With an average price of $171,000, the most purchases were in Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, and Dnipropetrovsk.
9.1.7 TMT sector news
Crypto currencies can be mined in Ukraine without a license , according to the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection, the regulator that oversees activities requiring licensing, Bitcoin.com reports. And no regulations are on the horizon, the newssite adds. As the price of Bitcoin wavers just above $6,100, electricity prices dictate mining locations. With each
53 UKRAINE Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com