“We’ll be burning through our reserves”: Former MP claims exchange rates are being artificially propped up and warns of a disaster in the agricultural sector

14 August 15:45

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The Russian occupiers’ massive strikes on port and logistics infrastructure have effectively blocked the ports of Greater Odesa and the Danube. This is pushing the Ukrainian agricultural sector to the brink of mass bankruptcy, as transportation costs are completely eating into farmers’ profits. Serhiy Khlan, a member of the 8th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada, a member of the Kherson Regional Council, and a combat veteran, made this statement in an interview with the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian".

“Today, all farmers are on the verge of operating at a loss, and the ports of Greater Odesa are completely blocked. The price of grain in Ukraine doesn’t even reach $100, because logistics and transshipment eat up the rest,” Serhiy Khlan emphasized.

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According to him, a difficult situation is also being observed in fuel pricing. The wholesale price of diesel has already reached 98 hryvnias per liter, while state-owned gas stations continue to sell it for 92 hryvnias. The government is effectively operating at a loss and depleting its reserves to maintain psychological price thresholds and prevent panic.

“We’ll burn through our reserves, we’ll operate at a loss, but the key point is this: we don’t have a dollar at 45 and diesel at 100. But farmers are buying diesel at 100 hryvnias per liter; no one is playing games with them—they’re playing games with the people who look at the gas station price signs,” Khlan noted.

Meanwhile, artificially suppressing prices in the retail market creates an illusion of stability only for ordinary citizens, while the real sector of the economy is suffering colossal losses and operating on the brink of survival.