Ukraine set to see 10% crop increase, up to 79M tonnes - ministry

That’s according to Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi, who spoke with his Spanish counterpart Luis Planas Pachades during the EU agriculture and fisheries ministerial, Ukrinform reports.

According to the report, the Ukrainian minister said this year's harvest was expected to reach over 79 million tonnes, which is 10%  above last year’s figures.

The parties also discussed the export and transit of Ukrainian agricultural products, and support to Ukrainian farmers.

Mykola Solskyi said that active work was being done to increase the volume of agricultural exports. According to him, more than 20 ships with various cargoes, including agricultural products, have already left the ports of Odesa in September-October.

According to the Minister, the volume of transit of agricultural products through the Danube and Romanian ports, such as Constanța, is also increasing.

At the same time, Solskyi noted that port infrastructure was suffering from constant shelling, so Ukraine needed to strengthen its air defences. Support is also needed for Ukrainian farmers who have suffered from Russia's full-scale invasion, he noted.

For his part, Luis Planas Puchades said that Spain was following developments closely and would continue to support Ukraine. Among other things, it supports the expansion of export routes so that Ukrainian farmers can sell their agricultural products.

The EU Council meeting on agriculture and fishing is held on October 23-24 in Luxembourg. The negotiations were also attended by Deputy Agricultural Minister Markian Dmytrasevych.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, as of October 18, some 11,600 Ukrainian agricultural enterprises received UAH 60.1 billion in bank loans for development.