GERUKA – Global Food Security and the Grain Markets in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan

This research project aims to assess the grain production and export potentials of the RUK countries. On the one hand, the project includes an assessment of the abandoned land that can be re-cultivated at low costs. Thereby, the effects of technical progress on grain productivity are considered. On the other hand, the integration of the RUK countries’ grain markets in the world market, and thus their importance for global food security, will be investigated. In addition, the institutional and infrastructural barriers to grain trade, such as transport and storage capacities, and corruption, will be investigated. The project also addresses the importance of market power and the effects of political market interventions, particularly export restrictions, on domestic markets. Based on these results, approaches designed to increase grain production and grain export potential in the RUK countries will be developed. Quantitative econometric analyses in the context of, e.g., simulation, productivity, price transmission, and pricing to market and trade models, are complemented by two kinds of qualitative interviews, which are conducted in each of the RUK countries.

Partners

• ADM Germany GmbH, Ukraine Office Website
• All-Russian Nikonov-Institute of Agrarian Problems and Informatics (VIAPI), Russian Federation Website
• Analytical Center of Economic Policy in the Agricultural Sector (ACEPAS), Kazakhstan Website
• Georg August University Goettingen, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Germany Website
• Higher School of Economics (HSE), Institute for Industrial and Market Studies (IIMS), Russian Federation Website
• Thünen Institute, Germany Website
• Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), Ukraine Website
• World Bank Website

Qualification Works

The following theses are part of the project:

• Productivity and efficiency analysis of Russian agricultural production (Carried out by: Maria Belyaeva)
• Price discrimination in the Russian grain market (Carried out by: )
• Barriers in grain export in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan (Carried out by: Iryna Kulyk)