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Why is the USSR breadbasket on the brink of famine now?

Steven Laack | 14.07.2015 13:51 | World

The second largest European state with the population of over 40 million is located in the most ecologically friendly environment on the continent to develop agricultural sector of economy. This state could well cater for half the world. The ancient peoples resident here before Christ were supplying whole Mediterranean region with the so called ‘Scythian bread’ in wake of trading cooperation with Athens and Rome. Still, civilized Europe saw them just as barbarians and people of second brand. Ukraine, rich in chernozem, black prolific soil, used to be the Russian Empire’s granary and then the USSR’s food base.











Nowadays Ukrainian chernozem is very popular both with the agricultural companies, buying it for their needs, and with the ordinary people keen on flower growing. But world fame of the rich Ukrainian soil brings no prosperity to those who are having their feet on this rich soil, the key to food safety of Europe actually. The reason lies in the most incompetent management and the eternal problem of corruption in the Ukraine. Officials, who have won long lusted positions in the ruling hierarchy, are busy not with the development of the agricultural and industrial complex but rather with amassing personal wealth.

At present, we may formulate this as systemic crisis in agricultural sphere of the country. Kiev’s political line after the Maidan of February 2014, based on drifting apart from Russia, major consumer of the Ukrainian foodstuffs, has added to other habitual challenges. It took only a year for the Ukrainian producers to lose the Russian market due to anti-Russian ideology of Kiev. At the same time despite the victorious reports on increased export of agricultural produce into Europe, Ukraine faces coordinated opposition of the European rivals (Spain and Poland in the first run). The so called export into the EU exists mainly on paper. Agricultural sector of the Ukrainian economy has degraded drastically in comparison with the USSR epoch. Europe doesn’t need parasite stricken Ukrainian tomatoes, rejected by Russia in the October of 2014, or beetroot and potatoes from Rivne and Zhitomir area with the radioactivity exceeding 6 times the normal level, or meat and milk from the cattle fed with the grass contaminated with cesium.

It would be incorrect to brand all the Ukrainian agricultural production as inedible. Still, such cases discredit Kiev. Even more discouraging is the irrelevance of the cost and quality of this production as well as the lack of intention with Europe to buy Ukrainian tobacco produce, spirits, corn, garlic and some other goods. Europe practically ignores Ukrainian tomatoes, sugar, barley and oats. Wheat was also bought by Europe in very restricted quantities last year, making only 12% of the agreed quota.

Western trading chains have no trust in Ukrainian partners who regularly frustrate deliveries motivating this with some force-majeure circumstances. And so European partners abandon contracts, demand paying the forfeit by the Ukrainian side, while the stored perishable stuffs are transforming into some stinky mass. This only leads to bankruptcy of the Ukrainian producers threatening the food security of the Ukrainian state where there will be nobody soon to cater for the Ukrainian citizens. In 2014 the drastic political and economic changes involving Ukraine, Russia and the EU didn’t have any noticeable effect on the domestic Ukrainian market. This is not the case now. By the end of 2015 the country may well face famine.

Right now in many shops there is registered shortage of many foodstuffs. In some districts food ration tickets have appeared never seen since the 1990s.

 http://www.politforums.net/ukraine/1425980525.html#1425980525

 http://forum.rks.kr.ua/viewtopic.php?p=630422#630422

The senior officials of the State Reserve Agency of Ukraine report that they can’t fill the shelves of the grocery shops for lack of eggs, milk, oil, cereals and meat.

 http://konnekt.com.ua/forum/thread6-1.html#5140

Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine for sake of economizing is curbing the trade of socially vital foodstuff commodities.

 http://uaforum.org/ukraine/kuda_idet_ukraina/msg458157/#msg458157

The advisors of the Ukrainian prime-minister point to most aggravated state of things in the Ukrainian economy, its food sector especially.

 http://vk.com/novorossiya_cyber_riot?w=wall-71999219_1784
 http://vk.com/doc242727766_373852514

All those discouraging things weren’t missed actually on European foodstuff corporations. At present, some previously declared projects are shrinking in Ukraine.

 http://www.dailytalkforum.com/thread-i-ve-always-been-interested-in-launching-business-in-the-country-not-so-much-abundant

In a nutshell, the state of things in the trade sector of the Ukrainian economy showed this spring the visible trend to pending collapse which will predictably entail humanitarian disaster in one of the largest European countries. Needless to say, this disaster is going to have negative impact on neighboring states as well. Hundreds of thousands Ukrainians going abroad in a try to escape military service in their home country may be soon added by many other, millions of them possibly ready for everything just to get food and survive. Amazingly, this food chaos in Ukraine is not due to some objective reasons but is rather the result of the political tyranny in Ukraine of the 21st century. Irresponsible Ukrainian politicians have brought the European country, able to cater for nearly whole world, to real poverty and famine challenge.

Steven Laack

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