News
14.10.2009
Ukraine still taking part in talks on creation of Black Sea regional grain pool - Ukrainian agricult
A statement made by President of the Russian Grain Union Arkadiy Zlochevsky about Ukraine's abandoning talks on the creation of a pool of grain exporting countries in the Black Sea region is untrue, according to Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Yuriy Melnyk.
"I'm surprised by such statements [about Ukraine's withdrawal from talks on the creation of the pool], as we have not dropped out of the talks. On the contrary, we're ready for further dialog," he told Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
Melnyk said that during negotiations with his Russian counterpart Yelena Skrynnik in Moscow in September, he told her that the idea of creating a grain pool on mutually beneficiation conditions for all its participants was sensible.
As was reported, speaking at a press conference on October 13, Zlochevsky announced that Ukraine had given up talks on the creation of the Black Sea regional grain pool of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, under pressure from the European Union.
The idea of setting up the grain pool in the Black Sea region was first raised and discussed at the world grain forum in St.Petersburg, Russia, in June 2009.
Commenting on prospects for the creation of the grain pool in the middle of June, EU Agriculture and Rural Development Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, who was in Kyiv then, said that while in talks on the pool, Ukraine should take into account that it is also a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
Kyiv Post
