Ukraine has Enough Milling Quality Wheat

KIEV - Mar 5/03 - APK -- Stocks of milling grain in domestic market are about 4.5 million metric tons (MT), which is enough to completely meet the demand of bread baking industry and to ensure stability of bread prices till the new crop, Ministry of Agrarian Policy Serhiy Ryzhuk told March 4 in the news program of Ukrainian state TV channel.

He said the data were based on market participants' grain stocks declaration, submitted to state statistic bodies in accordance with Ukrainian legislation. He also said that the Ministry had currently collected only 70% of the grain declarations.

The minister said the 4.5 million MT is only the registered part of the grain. Demand of Ukrainian baking industry in milling grain is about 6 to 6.5 million MT of grain a year.

In other news affecting the country's domestic grain markets, Ukraine's State Committee for Management of State Material Reserve (Derzhkomrezerv) plans to held in the first quarter of this year a competition for disbursement of 30,000 MT of milling grain, owned by the Committee.

Deputy Head of Derzhkomrezerv Volodymyr Omelyanchuk has said that more than 200 organizations already applied to participate in the competition, including some regional state administrations.

"There are a lot of applications for grain from the state reserve because of hard situation with milling wheat in the market," he said.

Ukrainian bakery plants had applied to government with a request to take measures to stabilize grain prices, the sharp growth of which was provoking increase in bread prices. In particular, they proposed to resort to grain interventions from the state reserve.

Since February 1 prices for flour in virtually all regions of Ukraine have increased almost 20% and now constitute 1,200 hryvnias for top grade flour (5.33 hryvnias = $1). Analysts said if the rates of price growth stay like this, the increase of bread prices - an extremely socially important issue for Ukrainian society - will be indispensable.

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