It is precisely "psychosis," that is, an unhealthy mental state, that can be used to describe most of the actions of the executive authorities regarding the so-called "state regulation" of the grain market in Ukraine in general and in our region in particular. The point is that instead of the levers of influence on the market mechanisms of this sector generally accepted in international practice, measures from the category of Stalin's prodrazverstka [grain requisitioning], the notorious law "on five ears of grain," and the noisy implementation of "food programs" from the early Gorbachev era are being applied.
In particular, in Volyn a ban has been recorded on the removal of grain beyond the region's borders. The absurdity of the situation lies in the fact that even elite varieties of grain grown under prior orders from other regions are detained at the region's border and directed to general reserves. Law enforcement agencies are performing inappropriate and illegal functions, being forced to ensure the implementation of economically senseless and normatively illiterate instructions from the authorities.
As a mass phenomenon, peculiar "excesses on the ground" are spreading — local administrations assign obligations to deliver a certain quantity of grain at fixed prices to everyone: from village councils to individual peasant households. To ensure the implementation of the latest food programs and, accordingly, to hold on to their positions, officials use a wide range of administrative-punitive measures.
Such crude, unprofessional interference in the grain market can lead to catastrophic consequences. Some regions will be left without fodder grain reserves, others without seed material. Bread producers, under pressure from profitability restrictions, will be forced to shut down production capacities and lay off workers. Prolonged restrictions over time will lead to a sharp jump in prices for bakery products, at a time when peasants will have no grain or flour reserves of their own, exhausted by the planned "prodrazverstka."
No positions or status advantages are worth such consequences and such sacrifices. Administrative overexertion today will result in a complete loss of control over the situation tomorrow.
Our goal is not criticism for the sake of criticism, as officials of the regional administration are trying to present it. This is far from being the sphere where political dividends are earned; the events listed touch upon the fundamental foundations of public life. And if someone in their offices does not understand this, then our task is to promote this understanding.