The Ukrainian Agri Council together with the leading agrarian associations that are members of the All-Ukrainian Agrin Forum appealed to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi, the Acting Director of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine Andriy Pashchuk, Acting Head of the State Tax Service of Ukraine Tetiana Kiriyenko, Acting Head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine Serhii Zvyagintsev, Head of the State Regulatory Service of Ukraine Oleksii Kucher, and Head of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine Pavlo Kyrylenko.

The farmers ask the authorities to initiate the abolition of the Order of the Head of the Odesa Regional State (Military) Administration and the Commander of the Odesa Operational and Strategic Group of Troops No. 19 as of August 18, 2023 "On Some Issues of Financial Discipline under the Legal Regime of Martial Law".

The consequences of the Order are already being felt on the grain market, in particular, grain shipments through the Danube ports have already been suspended, the fleet is idle, and farmers are suffering losses.

Experts of the associations analyzed the joint order in detail and are concerned about its possible consequences, including the suspension of exports. Certain provisions of the Order are not possible to implement at all from the point of view of legal business.

"It can be concluded that the joint Order No. 19 "On Certain Issues of Financial Discipline under the Legal Regime of Martial Law" and the Procedure for Interaction of Odesa Customs, the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Odesa Region, the Territorial Department of the BES in Odesa Region on Certain Issues of Financial Discipline by Business Entities in the Fields of Foreign Economic Activity under the Legal Regime of Martial Law were adopted beyond the scope of their authority and do not comply with the Constitution of Ukraine and the laws of Ukraine. In fact, such an Order may in the future become the basis for the heads of individual regions to establish their own customs, tax and any other regulation that will differ from the national one. This will weaken the control and governance of the state in the areas for which, according to the law, the central authorities are responsible," the appeal states.

The letter of appeal was signed by Mykola Gorbachov, President of the Ukrainian Grain Association, Maria Didukh, Director of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Forum, Gennadiy Novikov, Chairman of the Agrarian Union of Ukraine, Andriy Dykun, Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council, Leonid Kozachenko, President of the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation, and Roman Slasten, General Director of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club.