The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has posted on its official Web site a resolution extending grain export quotas until June 30, 2011.
According to the document, it will take effect upon publication in an official newspaper.
It was reported earlier, with reference to Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food Mykola Prysiazhniuk, that the government on March 30, 2011 decided to extend grain export quotas until June 30, 2011, having simultaneously increased the quota for maize exports by two million tonnes.
However, a respective resolution has not yet been published in official publications, which legally means the cancellation of the quotas from April 1, 2011.
In early October 2010, the Ukrainian government introduced quotas for grain exports until Dec. 31, 2010. At the end of last year, the quotas were extended until March 31, 2011. The total size of the quotas was increased by 1.5 million tonnes, to 4.2 million tonnes.
Since then, the quotas were distributed twice in a way that was sharply criticized by market operators, as most of the companies were unable to receive the grain availability certificates from the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry that they needed to apply for the quotas.
