“Even if Artemsil closed, salt will not be lacking like wheat, it will simply be more expensive”
The closure of Artemsil, the largest plant for the production of industrial and table salt in Central and Eastern Europe located in Soledar, in the Donetsk region and the consequent alarm in Ukraine on the salt front “are part of the hybrid war. that the Russian Federation has launched against our country. In an attempt to instill anxiety and do stock manipulation among the people “, pushed to stock up on salt in this case, especially in view of the summer, the traditional period for storing vegetables in DIY mode te, as is customary among Ukrainian rural communities. He talks about it with Adnkronos Mykhailo Nepran, first vice president of the National Chamber of Commerce of Ukraine, who explains: “If it is true that the production of salt that satisfied the needs of 92% of the Ukrainian people’s needs at low prices has stopped , it is also certain that without the hysteria of the media no one would have noticed. Families have stocks of salt, Artemsil is not the only Ukrainian factory that produces it and what is missing is recoverable through imports, already in place “. The problem created by the closure of Artemsil in Ukraine and abroad is the loss of guarantee of the low price: “there will be no lack of salt (as it could happen in some countries for wheat), but it will simply be more expensive”.
Salt production sites in Ukraine are also in “Drohobych, in the Lviv region and in Solotvyno, in Transcarpathia. Odessa was also producing salt, the plant was closed in the 1930s, but could be restarted”, says the manager of the National Chamber of Commerce. It makes us think that “already a few days after the start of the military aggression there were rumors about presumed food supply problems, which would have affected, among other things, areas not directly involved in the war. The point is – he reiterates – that it is underway a hybrid war intended to strike not only military but also economic and IT targets. It was not for nothing that a state company like Artemsil was forced to close. Not so much for the mines, which were not damaged, but because the logistics were unmanageable . The warehouses of Artemsil are in fact loaded with stocks of salt, which is impossible to transport because the company is in a so-called gray area, where there are battles at a distance of 50-70 km “.
Nepran reports that Ukraine is able to guarantee itself all the necessary foodstuffs, because it “produces 70% of the nation’s needs”. But the perception was reversed: “panic was created, there would be no more bread, oil, vegetables … and salt. So supermarkets today sell salt in one day that previously ran out in two weeks despite the Ukraine has already bought 200 tons of salt from Poland and Romania, and other quantities of Italian salt that will soon be placed on the market through the Auchan chain “. What about the prices? “Before the war they were lower – he replies – A kilo of salt cost about 30 cents, today the price fluctuates between 50 cents and 5 euros depending on the manufacturer. It depends on the fact that on the market, with the closure of Artemsil, products prevail. more expensive, more valuable salt, clearer. But I am sure that with the increase in imports, prices will drop “.
The representatives of the industrial bakery, dairy products, meat processing sector “assured me last Friday that they had salt stocks and that they would be able to guarantee production”. “Indeed – he adds – the quantity of milk production has remained similar to that before the war, despite the fact that the population has decreased”. Wheat and salt, can a parallel be drawn? “No, they respond to two completely different cadres – concludes the vice president of the National Chamber of Commerce – For wheat there is the problem of supplying Africa and the Middle East, dependent on Ukrainian production stopped in ports. For salt the story is another: We export it to 15 countries. But in the world there is no shortage and there will be no shortage. It will simply be more expensive, there will be no lower price “. (by Roberta Lanzara)
Source-www.adnkronos.com