The Ukrainian Prime-Minister, V .Yanukovich, has called on the country’s farmers to support the government in its clampdown on so-called ‘shadow business.’
‘Unofficial’ business in the Ukrainian agricultural sector is estimated to account for around 20% of the total, approximating to 2 billion UAH every year. The minister’s message underscores recent action taken by the government aimed at curbing shadow business, including the cancellation of privileges for the import of agricultural products to Free Economic Zones (FEZ) and the beefing up of anti smuggling policing.
In a separate bulletin, the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture has advised that on February 1 2003, the country’s livestock population was down 3.7% on the year previous to 9,099,000 head, while the country’s cattle population was down 0.6% to 4,702,400 heads.
