Next year, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine expects to harvest in the controlled territories in the amount of 70-75% of the indicators of 2022, despite the negative factors in the country's agricultural sector caused by Russian military aggression.

The support of international partners will also help Ukraine to harvest, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"This year, winter crops were sown on 4.8 million hectares in controlled areas. This is about 40% less compared to last year. We expect that more spring crops will be sown in the spring to compensate. But it is obvious that the high mine contamination fields, the factor of uncertainty and the constant attacks of the enemy will have an impact on the quantitative indicators of our harvest next year. This is a problem that will have to be addressed," the prime minister said.

He said that the country's government is working to attract international support, which should have a positive impact on the gross harvest next year. Thus, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has already agreed to provide the country with seed material, which will increase the total area under spring crops in 2023 by 30%. For comparison, during the 2022 sowing season, Ukraine sowed 14.16 million hectares of land with major agricultural crops, or 83.7% of the 2021 indicators of 16.92 million hectares.

In addition, in 2022, Ukrainian agricultural producers received portfolio guarantees on loans for almost UAH 24 billion, and UAH 81.2 billion of loans were provided under the 5-7-9% program.

"We will continue supporting the agricultural sector, but our resources are limited. Therefore, we are negotiating support from the EU, the United States, FAO. Such agreements have already been reached with many, in particular, with the European Commission, USAID. They are ready to finance grant programs to support agricultural producers and loan programs," the prime minister said in the interview.

Shmyhal also noted the importance of extending the Istanbul Grain Agreements, as the sea export of foodstuffs allows Ukrainian farmers and agrarians to survive. In addition, the supply of foodstuffs from Ukraine guarantees the stability of the geopolitical situation in Africa and the Middle East, since Ukrainian grain for many countries is a key factor in preventing hunger. To prevent it, Ukraine is now implementing the Grain from Ukraine humanitarian initiative of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to the prime minister, since the beginning of the war, the grain corridor has made it possible to export 13 million tonnes of foodstuffs from Ukraine, while its total exports over this period amounted to 32 million tonnes.

"Now the intensity of the grain corridor is lower than expected and it is lower than Ukraine's capabilities. We are working very closely with the UN. We recently met with the UN Deputy Secretary General. The key conversation was about the grain corridor and food security in the world. The UN will continue defending the existence of such corridor. Moreover, now there is an ambitious goal to expand it. Martin Griffiths visited Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, specially inspected the ports. We are talking with the UN about expanding the capability of the grain corridor in order to join Mykolaiv region in addition to Odesa region. This will increase monthly export capacity of our grain by 2-2.5 million tonnes," Shmyhal said in the interview with the agency.