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As the war in Ukraine escalates, concerns are growing among grain importers and breeders in Cyprus, who see international grain prices doubling in a matter of days, when stockpiles of livestock are sufficient for about six weeks or even around four months for human use.
According to information from KYPE, the Ministry of Agriculture, awaiting the European response to the crisis that has been created, is working on various scenarios and will decide within the next week on any support. Scenarios include the purchase of cereals by the Government to dispose of them or the purchase of cereals to be stored and imported by importers, with the aim of helping the state to have adequacy.
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The Minister of Agriculture Costas Kadis, during the extraordinary informal meeting of the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers on Wednesday, called on the European Commission to formulate a special framework for the implementation of support measures for the affected sectors, while ensuring the adequacy of raw materials throughout its territory. EU and especially in island Member States facing more severe supply chain difficulties.
Prices skyrocketed within a week
In the last few days, there has been concern among farmers that grain stocks would be depleted within a month, however, as stated by George Andreou, Managing Director of the company Andreou Hoirostasia Brothers, since yesterday, orders have been placed to buy 15 more days of maize. But new orders from Romania and Bulgaria are 80 euros a ton more expensive than a week ago, he said. If they can not be supplied by these two markets, he said, then they will have to go to the more expensive markets of France and the US, amid rising prices internationally.
“If the war does not end and “If the stocks held by Russia and Ukraine enter the market, then we will no longer talk about the price of grain, but we will no longer be able to supply grain,” said Mr. Andreou. In that case, he said, or if prices go up too much, farmers will no longer be able to feed their animals.
The General Director of the Pancyprian Organization of Cattle Breeders (POA) Nikos Papakyriakou, stated that the prices of cereals compared to October 2020 are already increased by 80% and are expected to increase even more due to the war.
He said that the Government should subsidize the feed of the breeders and claim subsidies from the EU, adding that Cyprus as an island state, far from Europe and due to the problem of occupation, has all the conditions to achieve it.
At the same time, he said that the silos of the Cereals Committee should be full of stocks, since in 2021 the Parliament approved the operation of the Committee for the Assurance of Strategic Feed Stocks, which has exactly this role. He also warned of serious dangers in the livestock farmers 'livelihood if this situation continues without action.
Importers' ships have been waiting in ports for nine days to load
“For nine days now we have ships outside the port of Constanta in Romania and we are waiting in line to load,” said Costas Konstantinou of the grain import company Miloubar Cyprus LTD. Three days ago, he added, we expected two ships from Moldova to come to Cyprus, when the country announced that it was banning exports and expelled the importers.
He also said that with the arrival of the ships with the cereals in Cyprus “we will eat wood to whom we will give”.
As he said, there are no security stocks in Cyprus, except for certain days. In order for grain to come to Cyprus, he added, this must be done on a private initiative, when out of the seven importing companies, five are of foreign interests, as he mentioned.
He also pointed out that the purchasing power of farmers, especially pig farmers has been lost due to increased costs, reduced tourism for two years and in general the conditions created by the pandemic. He also noted that from the first days of the war until today, grain prices have risen by 40-50%, something that has never happened before. The problem, he added, will become even more acute in the coming months as Ukraine produces 20% of the region's cereals and fertilizers and if Ukraine does not sow, neighboring countries will significantly increase their costs. He added that Russia, which is also a major producer, would sell all its grain to China.
He stressed the need for the state to intervene, introducing a ship with grain to meet the needs. The importers, he added, can not introduce and finance this situation, at a time when, as he said, they have already lost several million in livestock, with farmers owing them about 4 million euros.
“Do you understand “We can not finance the loss of all livestock as importers of cereals,” he said.
reserve. If that happens, he said, we will not be able to sell even the few grains we have on the market at a time when producers are in dire need of them.
At the moment, he noted, there is a state of war with countries to seize cereals for export for their own needs, non-producing countries to rush to buy to meet the needs of their population, to close ports, to cancel contracts and markets.
