KIEV, Ukraine, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- There will be no limits to grain exports from Ukraine despite warnings of imposing a quota, the Ukrainian government announced.
A record-breaking heat wave and drought in the region is having a dramatic impact on food crops. The grain harvest forecast for Ukraine fell from around 48 million tons in 2009 to roughly 42 million tons this year as a result.
Officials in Kiev said last week that, as a member of the World Trade Organization, it was unable to halt grain exports, though a quota was under consideration
Viktor Slauta, the deputy prime minister of Ukraine, said that despite the scorching heat wave, there were "no grounds" to limit the export of grain, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reports.
Heat, drought and wildfires caused major damage to the Russian grain crop, one of the world's largest. The drought destroyed around 30 percent of the crop and sapped millions of dollars from federal coffers.
Russia imposed a ban on grain exports through the end of the year as the harvest forecast was down 38 percent compared with last year.
