Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said here Wednesday that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Ukraine grew 4.4 percent in the first half of this year thanks to a nine percent-increase in industrial output.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Azarov said that the sectors of processing industry, construction, engineering, chemical production had made the greatest contribution to the growth of industrial production of the country.
Meanwhile, he urged state and private food companies to maximize grain reserves in the 2011-2012 marketing year.
"I don't want to hear anything about a shortage of grain for food and livestock anymore," Azarov said.
Ukraine is expected to have a bumper harvest of grain crop this year, as farmers have already reaped some 12 million tons of wheat and around 4 million tons of other cereals, he said.
The Agricultural Ministry has forecast grain harvest this year at 45 million tons, while some market experts put the figure at around 43 million tons.
The Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation said the country would harvest over 47 million tons of cereals, including 20 million tons of wheat, about 9 million tons of barley, 17 million tons of corn and 1.5 million tons of other cereals.
Ukraine's grain harvest in 2010 dropped by 14.6 percent to 39.3 million tons compared with the previous year due to extreme heat./.