Ministry: Ukraine's farmers received over $1 billion in loans in 2023.

Over 7,600 Ukrainian agricultural enterprises received a collective 38 billion Hr. (£1 billion) in loans for development support since the beginning of 2023, the Agriculture Ministry said[1] on June 21. Of this number, 6,000 companies received a joint 22.5 billion Hr. (£600 million) under the "Affordable Loans 5-7-9" program, which was launched to "stimulate economic revival and employment of residents and internationally displaced persons" in 2020. The highest loans under various programs went to farmers in Kyiv (£210 million), Vinnytsia (£110 million), Dnipropetrovsk (£84 million), Kirovohrad (£79 million), and Odesa (£70 million) oblasts.

Ukraine's agriculture suffered heavily due to the effects of the Russian invasion. Moscow repeatedly threatened[2] to block grain exports through the Black Sea corridor, while surplus exports to Europe led to the EU banning[3] some of Ukraine's agricultural products. Russian forces have also been reportedly stealing[4] Ukraine's grain and shipping it to Russia.

Most recently, the Kakhovka dam destruction resulted in the flooding of 10,000 hectares[5] of arable land and over £4 billion of damage[6] to irrigation infrastructure.

Inside Ukraine's costly mission to grind down Russia near Bakhmut Editor's note: The Kyiv Independent interviewed a few dozen soldiers deployed near Bakhmut and visited their positions in late May and early June. The soldiers are identified by their first names or call signs for security reasons amid the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine.

NEAR IVANIVSKE VILLAGE, Don...

[7] Martin Fornusek

News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer.

Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

References

  1. ^ said (minagro.gov.ua)
  2. ^ threatened (kyivindependent.com)
  3. ^ banning (kyivindependent.com)
  4. ^ stealing (kyivindependent.com)
  5. ^ hectares (kyivindependent.com)
  6. ^ damage (kyivindependent.com)
  7. ^ Inside Ukraine's costly mission to grind down Russia near BakhmutEditor's note: The Kyiv Independent interviewed a few dozen soldiers deployed near Bakhmut and visited their positions in late May and early June.

    The soldiers are identified by their first names or call signs for security reasons amid the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine.

    NEAR IVANIVSKE VILLAGE, Don... (kyivindependent.com)