KYIV. March 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The profitability of Ukrainian farmers in 2016 could fall, and due to low prices in the world markets the threat of profit decline will remain in 2017-2018, UkrAgroConsult CEO Serhiy Feofilov has said.

"Ukrainian farmers export commodities. This means profits directly depend on the situation on world markets, where, as the current situation shows, prices will remain stably low. According to our forecasts, profit, the margin of Ukrainian farmers could reduce in 2016. We are confident that profitability will be lower than the previous year," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.

According to Feofilov, there remains the threat of a decrease in profits in the Ukrainian agrarian sector in 2017-2018 as well.

He drew attention to the fact that the world market has changed, production has grown, and prices have fallen. At present the potential for increasing the profitability of agricultural production with traditional instruments due to increased production and exports has been exhausted.

UkrAgroConsult analyst for the world market of grains and oilseeds Olena Hesova said expert forecasts for the 2017-2018 season show no fundamental factors for the growth of grain prices since it is difficult to decrease high world reserves.