Ukraine loses 15pc of grain crop due to fighting

MOSCOW, Aug 19 (Reuters): Ukraine is losing 15 per cent of its 2014 grains crop due to fighting with pro-Moscow separatists in its eastern regions and Russia's annexation of the Crimea peninsula, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said.

The country is expected to the world's second largest grain exporter in the 2014/15 crop year, according to the International Grains Council. "We lost 15 per cent of the gross harvest due to them," Interfax news agency quoted Yatseniuk as saying about clashes. He was speaking during a meeting with farmers in the Cherkasy region in central Ukraine on Tuesday.

Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry previously expected the 2014 grain harvest to exceed last year's all-time-record crop of 63 million tonnes. Analysts and traders have said Ukraine is likely to harvest around 60 million tonnes.

Yatseniuk did not provide a fresh estimate for the 2014 grain crop.

The loss of 15 per cent of the harvest would be equal to 9.5 million tonnes of grains, according to Reuters calculation based on the 63 million tonnes forecast.

This would be much higher than an estimate of 500,000-550,000 tonnes of losses given in late July by Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Ihor Shvaika.