MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ukraine suspends exports of cereals to avoid a “humanitarian crisis”; strong IMF financial support

The suspension is intended to stabilize the market, and “meet the population’s needs for critical food products,” said Agrarian minister Roman Leshchenko

Ukraine’s government has suspended rye, barley, wheat, millet, and salt exports until the end of the year, while new rules for overseas sales of corn, buckwheat, sugar, live cattle, and meat have also been established.

The suspension is intended to avoid a “humanitarian crisis in Ukraine,” stabilize the market, and “meet the population’s needs for critical food products,” according to Roman Leshchenko, Ukraine’s Minister of Agrarian and Food Policy, in a statement posted on the government’s website and Facebook page.

Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat and barley exports, with international prices skyrocketing since the Moscow-ordered invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government will also establish a system of licenses for non-suspended product shipments.

Before Russia’s invasion, Ukraine had announced that it expected to export 60 million tons of grain from its 2021/22 harvest, including 33 million tons of corn and 23 million tons of wheat.

On February 23, the day before the military invasion, Ukraine's Ministry of Agriculture announced the country had already exported 43 million tons of grains in 2021/22.

Meantime in Washington the IMF Executive Board approved a disbursement of US$1.4 billion for Ukraine under the Rapid Financing Instrument to help meet urgent financing needs and mitigate the economic impact of the war.

The IMF Executive Board expressed its strong support for the Ukrainian people and said the economic consequences of the war are already very serious, with refugee flows of over 2 million persons in just 14 days and large-scale destruction of key infrastructure in Ukraine.

The disbursement under the RFI, equivalent to 50 percent of Ukraine’s quota in the IMF, will help meet urgent balance of payment needs arising from the impacts of the ongoing war and will provide critical support in the short term while playing a catalytic role for financing from other partners.