Yushchenko: New Approach Necessary to Support National Producers

The Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko believes that a new approach should be adopted to support  national producers. The statement came during his April 12 interview on the ICTV television channel.

The president said he was sure that high inflation was due to the lack of structural reforms. “A global response to inflation should be effective economic reforms in all sectors, beginning from housing and utilities. And today, the most urgent tasks face us in the agriculture,” he added.

He said that for Ukraine, the agricultural sector was as important as gas industry for Russia: “For us, Ukrainian grain is the same as oil and gas for Russia. Today, a ton of grain costs more than 1,000 cubic meters of gas. Today for the fist time ever, we see agricultural prices – especially grain prices – growing at a faster rate than the gas price.”

The president said that Ukraine should avail itself of the favorable situation by “supporting its agriculture and making a breakthrough in this sector.” “That’s what we’ve been dreaming about for so long. We’ve been long talking about Ukraine’s natural, traditional, strategic advantages, and now we’ve finally got a unique chance. The circumstances are difficult, but we can find an effective response to the challenges and end up winners,” the president concluded.