PJSC Kalita farm (Kyiv region) was not insured against African swine fever (ASF) due to absence of this type of insurance in Ukraine since 2014.

"Yes, our company was insured against all except for ASF because from 2014 companies do not insure this risk," Kalita Board Chairman Yuriy Zhikharev said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.

According to him, he is not familiar with the procedure of reimbursement for losses from the budget in case of an outbreak of ASF at a large enterprise.

He also said that Ukraine is experiencing an epidemic of ASF, but the authorities are not taking preventive measures, seeking only to localize the effects.

"They are trying to make our company the main culprit of the situation... We took not only regulated biosecurity measures, we had a number of additional security measures, not regulated by our legislation, but we see that this did not help," Zhikharev said.

He said he believes that it is necessary to develop a state program to combat ASF. As an example, he cited Spain where more than a hundred mobile veterinary brigades controlled farms, collected samples for analysis, and involved pig breeders in creating sanitary associations. All pig farms were subject to serological monitoring. As a result, the country improved sanitary barriers: more than 2,000 farms have received preferential loans for improvement of conditions over 15 years.