President blames government for short-sighted policy in agriculture

Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko has criticized the government for short-sighted policy in agriculture, particularly in the sugar industry.

He said this at a meeting with farm workers on the occasion of their professional day in Kyiv on Wednesday.

"Sugar production is in fact being destroyed" in Ukraine, he said.

According to him, the area under sugar beet crops on 328,000 hectares in Ukraine is now the smallest since 2002. "Should it be like this? When there's a sugar price boom in the world …," Yuschenko wondered.

He also slammed a decline in the number of sugar refineries. He said that a new yield of sugar beets would be processed at 75 sugar refineries, which is three times lower than two years ago.

Moreover, Yuschenko criticized the unjustified imports of farm products to Ukraine.

source: interfax