The attraction of a loan of $3 billion from China to restore Ukraine's irrigation systems is at the final stage, Ukrainian Agricultural Policy and Food Minister Mykola Prysiazhniuk has said.

"We're finishing the signing of the financing agreement," he said a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Asked why the loan agreement was not signed during the visit of a Ukrainian delegation to China, he said that the top managers of the Chinese corporation that were to sign the document were on a visit to Africa at that time.

Prysiazhniuk added that veterinary services of Ukraine and China have started certifying all types of Ukrainian meat.

In early October, Prysiazhniuk said that Ukraine would raise a $3 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of China for the restoration of Ukraine's irrigation systems. The minister said that Ukraine would get $1.5 billion in cash and $1.5 billion worth of equipment.