Ukraine reached 92 percent of its spring planting target so far with 94 percent of winter crops in good condition, the Agricultural Ministry announced on April 16.
Interim
Agriculture Minister Igor Shvayka, and member of the right-wing Svoboda party,
met with journalists on April 16 to release these figures, but refused to
provide them with an official crop forecast for the year. “The ministry does
not make forecasts,” the minister said who has a legal, not farming background.
In
previous years, the agricultural ministry issued regular forecasts, however.
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture foresees Ukraine’s grain crop at 54.1 million
tons in the 2013-2014 marketing year. Last year country had an all-time record,
harvesting 61.5 million tons of grain.
When
asked about the prospects of introducing private land ownership, Shvayka
followed the party line: “the Ukrainian people will remain owners of Ukrainian
land.”
Svoboda
has constantly opposed the sale of farmland, and there is a longstanding
moratorium in place on the sale of it.
Shvayka
also said that a public
council attached to the ministry will be created to tackle problems in the
lucrative agricultural sector. “The problem is that there is no association in
Ukraine which actually includes representatives from various structures –
farmers or processors,” Shvayka said.
Shvayka’s
brief stint as minister so far has been criticized. On April 11, attendees of the Third Agriculture Forum, which had 500 in attendance, passed a
no-confidence vote. “I congratulate the Agriculture Forum,” Shvayka ironically
commented afterward.
Solutions that agrarian associations offer do
not meet the needs of the ministry, he added.
Those in attendance complained that Shavayka
didn’t come to the forum and even did not send one of his deputies.
“We called state authorities and after a
telephone conversation with Verkhovna Rada chairman (and Acting President)
Oleksandr Turchynov demanded that Agriculture Policy and Food Minister Igor
Shvayka come to the forum, but he refused to come,” said Leonid Kozachenko,
head of Ukrainian Agriculture Association.
Alex Lissitsa, president of Ukrainian
Agribusiness Club, in an interview with Biz.liga.net said Shvayka has done
nothing to stop the corruption schemes or launch any reforms within the
ministry during the past six weeks that he has been in office. “If the minister does not understand such things… Do
we need such a minister?” Lissitsa rhetorically asked.
Shvayka is being especially
criticized for keeping high-level officials in place that worked under
ex-Agricultural Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk, who is now wanted on corruption
charges.
Deputy Minister Oleksandr Sen
told the Kyiv Post that General Prosecution Office has not made any official
accusations against him so far. “There are 300 employees in the ministry, it
makes no sense to suspect them just because they had previously worked with
Prysyazhnyuk,” he added.
“I will make my own decisions
and will be responsible for the consequences if these decisions appear to be
wrong,” Shvayka stated regarding his staff hiring policy.
Dragon Capital’s latest report
for the investors provides Shvayka with quite a critical description: “Radical
nationalist like many of his fellow party members… Does not seem to have prior
agricultural industry experience, unlike a different member of his party who
was originally nominated for agriculture minister but was mysteriously replaced
in the last minute.”
Addressing whether he has the
qualifications to do his job, Shvayka said that his main task is to instill
good governance and manage the overall process. He added that will take into
consideration the agricultural market’s “collective vision” to develop the
sector.
KyivPost staff writer Vladyslav Golovin can be reached at [email protected].
Photo by Anna Korbut / DYVYS
