Canada Will Provide USD 40 Million For Purchase Of Grain Storage Facilities In Ukraine

Canada will provide USD 40 million for the purchase of grain storage facilities in Ukraine.

This is stated in the message of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with the financial support of Canada, has launched a new project for the amount of USD 40 million (CAD 52 million) to further solve the problem of shortage of grain warehouses in Ukraine. This initiative will ensure the storage of an additional 2.4 million tons of grain in 2022-2023, along with related technical support and equipment. This project complements the USD 17 million assistance recently provided by the Japanese government to ensure the storage of 1 million tons of grain," the statement reads.

This season, with the beginning of harvesting of winter crops in July and spring crops - a little later, Ukraine is expected to harvest up to 51.1 million tons of grain.

At the same time, out of the total capacity of grain warehouses of 75 million tons, 14% of the warehouses are damaged or destroyed, 10% are located in the territory occupied by Russia, and about 30% remain filled with 22 million tons of last year's harvest, ready for export.

According to the statement, the recently developed strategy for supporting grain storage - the expansion of the FAO rapid response plan in Ukraine - aims to support the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food to secure 4.07 million tons of grain storage or 25% of the national storage deficit of 16 million tons in 2022-2023.

The immediate result of implementing the strategy will be the expansion and immediate provision of storage capacity at this critical harvest time for Ukrainian grain and oilseed producers, while the long-term impact will be to support the global food supply.

"Thanks to funding provided by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, FAO will provide facilities for temporary and permanent grain storage, including polyethylene grain storage sleeves, loading and unloading equipment and long-term modular storage, targeting small and medium-sized farms in 15 regions. In addition, FAO will purchase laboratory equipment worth up to USD 2 million to support 6 strategic laboratories to carry out tests to detect animal diseases in accordance with the rules of safe trade of the World Organization for Animal Health," the head of the FAO office in Ukraine, Pierre Vauthier, is quoted in the statement.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, FAO announced an international tender for the purchase of grain storage facilities in Ukraine.