Agriculture ministry orders veterinary service to settle issue of exporting grain from Crimea

The Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry of Ukraine has ordered the State Veterinary and Biosecurity Service of Ukraine to settle the situation with exports of grain from the territory of Crimea.

"I don’t know how they managed to export [from Crimea], as this is the sovereign territory of Ukraine. Without our biosecurity certificates, from Ukraine, it is impossible to do this. I gave an order to clear the issue and find out what is going with grain from Crimea and gave the order to the State Veterinary and Biosecurity Service," Agricultural Policy and Food Minister Ihor Shvaika said at the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Forum III in Kyiv on Thursday.

President of the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation Leonid Kozachenko said that Ukraine does not know which company exported the grain. He said that grain exports from Crimea were illegal.

"From the beginning it was known that a Ukrainian company did this. Then this company, I don’t want to name it, said that this was not it, but a certain Russian company which took away grain," Shvaika said.

Director General of the largest grain trader in Ukraine – Nibulon – Oleksiy Vadatursky said that exports of grain from Crimea are illegal.

"First, ports in Crimea are closed for vessels from other countries as well as air space. According to international law, those vessels which enter Crimea are not to be accepted by other countries which support the UN convention," he said.

He said that such actions would be punished.

As reported, on July 9, 2014, Rosselkhoznadzor reported that 30,000 tonnes of grain was exported from Crimea.