Crimea will have to spend budget money due to Kherson dumping
Crimean authorities will have to compensate agricultural producers from the budget for losses due to dumping on the Kherson farmers' market. Crimean farmers' losses are so great that they have no working capital for sowing, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to the head of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, he has already secured the support of the federal center to provide assistance to Crimean agricultural producers. First of all, we are talking about grains and vegetables, the price of which was low this year due to the admission of Kherson farmers to the market.
"I spoke with Dmitry Nikolaevich Patrushev ( Minister of Agriculture ) today, and our colleagues promised us support," Aksyonov noted. "We'll find a solution for the grain exports from Crimean producers by the end of the week. The same applies to vegetable growing. The market situation has changed, and new regions of the Russian Federation have emerged that specialize in vegetable growing and are posing serious competition to our producers."
By 2023, the situation needs to be stabilized. Unfortunately, this year many agricultural producers in Crimea sank, there is no working capital, so they now need help. To the extent that if we don’t find effective tools, then there should be preferential lending or subsidies.”
According to Aksenov, the decision on support will be made jointly with Sevastopol, where farmers also did not make a profit due to dumping of Kherson products. Next year, the head of Crimea promised farmers separate trading platforms along the Tavrida highway, at exits, road junctions or at the exit from any district or city.
Similar sites are already operating along Tavrida with far from Crimean producers and non-Crimean goods, but under the Crimean Fair brand.
After the liberation of the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, agricultural produce from these regions flooded the Crimean market. Farmers sold their harvests at rock-bottom prices to buy groceries, manufactured goods, and building materials in Crimea before returning home. 400-500 tons of vegetables were delivered to the markets weekly, and even with the involvement of middlemen, the price of cabbage, carrots, onions, and potatoes dropped by a third.
Against this backdrop, suppliers from neighboring Kuban lost their position. When vegetable deliveries from the Kherson region initially resumed, resellers bought the entire cargo wholesale to keep prices down. But as volumes increased, this became impossible. Moreover, Kherson agricultural products left Crimean grain and vegetable producers without markets. Selling corn became unprofitable, and farmers were left without funds for sowing.
Crimea will have to spend budget money due to Kherson dumping.