By Mo Abbas, Matt Bradley and Yelyzaveta Kovtun -
NBC News
The price of sunflower oil is skyrocketing around the world, but Roman Tarasevich has a mountain of sunflower seeds that he has not been able to sell.
Ukraine is the world's largest exporter of sunflower oil,
but the Russian invasion has made cultivation, production and transportation virtually impossible, causing prices to rise around the world and buyers from From London to New Delhi, scramble for limited bottles of the gold-colored liquid commonly used for cooking.
"Undoubtedly, we are going to take a financial hit, but right now I don't want to think about it and we continue to work," said Tarasevich, 46, standing next to a pile of unsold sunflower seeds in an agricultural warehouse in Zaporizhzhia, on the eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine is the world's largest exporter of sunflower oil, but the Russian invasion has massively reduced supply, driving up world prices and prompting rationing in some countries.Mo Abbas/NBC News
He looked pained as he described how he had saved last year's harvest to bargain for a higher price, but like many Ukrainians he was caught off guard by the Russian invasion that began on February 24.
Since then, ports have been blocked, fuel is in short supply and insurance rates are through the roof.
Similar problems can be found throughout the country's economy, which the World Bank says will contract 45% this year due to the war.
"The main problem we have to get our product to the border is that, as you know, the closest border to us is more than 1,000 kilometers away, and there is a fuel shortage," Tarasevich said.
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The world also has to adapt.
Supermarkets have rationed sales of sunflower oil in the UK, Spain, Italy and Greece, among other countries, after the average price per metric ton shot up in March to $2,361 from the previous month, according to the economic data website thelgobaleconomy.com.
Sunflower farmer Roman Tarasevich stands next to a mountain of unsold sunflower seeds in a Zaporizhzhia warehouse.Mo Abbas/NBC News
Russia is also a key exporter of sunflower oil, and Western sanctions have further exacerbated the supply crisis.
Combined, Russian and Ukrainian exports make up 55% of the world's supply, according to the United Nations food agency.
The United States can meet domestic demand for sunflower oil from its own crops, but food experts warn that
US prices may also start to rise
as global buyers look for alternative suppliers.
"It's not just a military war," Tarasevich said.
“It is also an economic war, because the world depends on Ukrainian products.
So now, Russia creates problems not only for Ukraine, but for the whole world."
[The US economy is no longer in “repair”, Biden assures that it is “in progress”]
For now, he has problems closer to home: Russian soldiers and rockets.
"Right now, 80% of the fields in the Zaporizhzhia region cannot be used by farmers, either because of the fighting or because they are occupied," he said, showing NBC News a photo of a crater surrounded by remains of rockets in one of their fields.
Tarasevich said he was worried about the shiny, expensive tractors and other farm equipment his 65 workers were using to plow the fields and plant this year's crop.
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It is a team that cannot afford to lose.
"Before the war, at the end of the season, the money we received from our harvest was spent on new vehicles, improvements in the factory, to increase wages, to improve business. Right now, the money we earn is barely enough to cover the basics," Tarasevich said.
Still, he and other Ukrainians working in the agricultural sector said they are determined to continue farming under fire.
Together with his 24-year-old son Kirill, Tarasevich also grows peas, barley, corn, rapeseed and millet.
[Gasoline continues to rise and will remain expensive for months. This can do to save her]
"We cannot stop because we are producing food for our people, for our army, for the whole world," Tarasevich said.
In a field in Zaporizhzhia, less than 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the front line, farm workers toiled in the sun while wearing bulletproof vests.
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“There are men who fight in the war and I am fighting here in the fields,” said Yuri, a 42-year-old tractor driver who did not want to give his last name for fear of being identified by Russian forces.
Russian rockets had scattered the bombs across the fields, and their empty crates were piled in a junkyard on the farm.
Since then, Ukrainian forces have swept through the area and dug trenches in nearby fields.
At least in Zaporizhzhia, there could soon be more soldiers than sunflowers.
