There is enough food in Ukraine – PM Svydyrenko

Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko instructed the State Emergency Service (SES) to urgently consider the possibility of providing assistance in the short-term supply of enterprises that produce basic food products in the event of sudden outages.

"The Ministry of Economy is responsible for coordinating work with producers and retail chains on food security. A corresponding headquarters operates at the base of this ministry. Oleksiy Sobolev and Taras Vysotsky direct its work. We will respond to any needs for assistance immediately," Svyrydenko said Telegram channel following the results of a meeting with representatives of food producer associations on the functioning of businesses in conditions of limited energy supply.

She also noted that she instructed the State Emergency Service (SES) to urgently work out the possibility of providing assistance in short-term power supply to enterprises that produce basic food products in the event of sudden outages.

According to her, the Ministry of Energy and the National Commission for State Regulation in the Spheres of Energy and Utilities (NKREKP) must urgently ensure the connection and launch of generating units that are available to food producers and have not yet been launched.

In addition, the SES will strengthen coordination with food producers in the regions to form operational food reserves in case of the need to deploy food points.

"I also appeal to retail chains to give more preference to Ukrainian food products. This is a matter of the overall stability of our economy. I have instructed the Ministry of Economy to work out additional measures to support producers in this matter," the prime minister wrote.

Svyrydenko emphasized that currently there is enough food available in Ukraine, and the capacity of producers exceeds domestic consumption, so the situation is under control.