Ukraine should annually produce at least 4 mln tonnes of bioethanol, declared Volodymyr Klymenko, President of Ukrainian Grain Association, on June 26.
To date, Ukraine does not actually produce bioethanol. At the same time, the country imports nearly 4 mln tonnes of gasoline per year from Russia and Belarus, although one can annually produce the same volume of biofuel, processing 10 mln tonnes of corn for the reporting purposes, said V.Klymenko.
At the same time, the president of Ukrainian Grain Association underlined that establishment of such industry sector in Ukraine will require significant financial investments.
Construction of a modern plant for biofuels production would cost nearly 700 mln UAH. Also, there will be costs for infrastructure and logistics, he said.
However, V.Klymenko considers that only development of the bioethanol production in Ukraine will assist to significantly increase the capacities of the domestic grain market, which do not exceed 27 mln tonnes per year during 10 recent years.
Possible foundation of the company on base of State Food and Grain Corporation (with foreign capital), which would deal with development of the bioethanol industry in Ukraine, would greatly assist solving the issue. At the same time, Ukraine should make the most of experience of the USA, which is a world leader in the market segment, said V.Klymenko.
Also, he stressed that the prospects for development of the bioethanol industry in Ukraine will be one of the key topics of the first round of the Ukrainian Agrarian Congress (October 15-16, 2015, Kiev), which will be attended by representatives of three largest companies-producers of the commodity from the USA.
