Facing a tough sell in Western Europe, the biotech industry is heading east, hoping the former Communist bloc will prove to be fertile ground for their products.
Conditions here are ripe.
Little legislation is on the books regulating genetically modified foods, and people in Eastern European have little time for the debate. Many are more concerned about where their next meal is coming from, not whether it has been tinkered with genetically. Meanwhile, biotech firms are busy lobbying Eastern European officials to craft toothless safety regulations and boost public support. Ukraine is not a new market for the biotech industry. Monsanto began conducting tests on genetically modified potatoes there in 1997.