Prior to the financial crisis, agriculture started with a record crop year in 2008: more than 53 mln tons of grains were harvested in Ukraine. 25 mln tons of grain were exported and export revenues should have been contributed to rising investments to maintain similarly high production in the following season. However, two major tendencies attributed to financial crisis – credit tightening and downward pressure on prices for major agricultural commodities – challenged these optimistic forecasts.