The 5th International Agri Invest Forum 2018 Agrarian Investors Conference, organized by the Ukrainian Agrarian Council (UAC) and the consulting company Dykun, brought together about 700 participants, among them more than 450 representatives of agrarian enterprises from different parts of Ukraine.

For the convenience of the participants, the program was divided into three main parts: the business section, as well as the financial and section of the united territorial communities.

During the business section, domestic and international experts, people's deputies and farmers considered the problem of non-recovery of VAT when exporting oilseeds, limiting the import of fertilizers to Ukraine and land reform.

So, the discussion began with a vote on the consequences of the notorious "oil amendments". According to the results of the survey, if 2017 soybeans were grown by 67% of respondents, this year – only by 55%. If VAT refunds on oil exports will not be restored, next year only 24% will think about growing soy.

However, "oil amendments" was not the only problem that seriously disturbed domestic agricultural producers. The next discussion was devoted to an equally important topic - the problem of deficiency, monopoly and high prices for fertilizers inside the country.

In the framework of this discussion, about 80% of the farmers expressed their opposition to restrictions on the import of fertilizers originating from the Russian Federation.

"The share of fertilizers in the cost of production - 15%, and in the cost of wheat, about 30%. If you ask me, I am advocating forbidding the import of fertilizers from Russia and importing them from China. However, there are logistical problems. Therefore, we need to unite and seek a solution together," noted the chairman of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council Andriy Dykun, noting that the Agri Invest Forum 2018 became the platform for the first in Ukraine dialogue between farmers and representatives of the chemical industry.

83.6% of agrarians see the solution of this problem in the provision of domestic chemical plants with their own raw material base. In particular, through the construction of plants for the production of mineral fertilizers from Ukrainian gas, or the sale of licenses for the extraction of gas for the production of mineral fertilizers. This idea was supported by the representatives of chemical enterprises.

After lunch, the participants of the business section discussed one of the most controversial and politicized issues - the problems of the land market in Ukraine.

If the market is to be opened, more than 55% propose to introduce the land market gradually, starting with the lands of state and communal property, and then in the framework of a pilot project on the sale of private land in selected areas.

94% of the 450 presenters of agrarian enterprises are interested in buying agricultural land, but are afraid to be deceived.

"We have set up a working group on the basis of the Verkhovna Rada Agricultural Committee, which, in 2 months, has to develop a concept for the flow of arable land. We will show you this concept. We want to hear the feedback from you. We want a professional but not a political debate. We are working in your interests ", - said Aleksandr Bakumenko, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian Policy and Land Relations.

After discussing the issues of the land market, farmers were looking for ways to solve the problem with raiding.

According to Deputy Justice Minister Olena Sukmanova, there are three main schemes of "agrarian" raiding in Ukraine: counterfeiting of signatures, in particular lease agreements; concealing the decisions of the general meeting of the agri-enterprise, giving rise to raider attacks, or direct blocking of the agro-enterprise; signing of lease agreements by several agro enterprises on the same share.

After the official speech, lawyers provided practical advice to farmers on how to secure their business, and the security company "Haydamaky" presented its services to protect the agrarian business of Ukraine.

In parallel with the business discussion, there was the Agri Finance section, in which the participants discussed financial and tax issues.

Olga Bogdanova, a practicing certified auditor, a partner of the Crowe Horwath AC Ukraine audit firm, listed the main mistakes that farmers face when filling out tax consignment notes. She detailed possible consequences of tax audits, the peculiarities of work with the electronic cabinet, the conditions for obtaining and the procedure for calculating budget subsidies.

Then experts from the Union of Automation Businesses highlighted existing solutions for business optimization and investment attraction.

After lunch, experts from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) talked about banking programs and models of lending in the agricultural sector. So, the manager of business development in the IFC project Agrarian Statements in Ukraine, Kirill Muhomedzianov, told about this mechanism of lending. Since the beginning of the project of agrarian receipts in Ukraine in 2014 and until now, domestic agrarians have attracted UAH 2.85 billion for business development.

The theme of the third section, which operated in the first half of the day, was the problems and prospects of reforming the united territorial communities (UTC) in Ukraine.

Oleksander Kalibrada, representative of the USAID project "Support for agrarian and rural development", noted that in 2018 the state support of regional and local development increased by 39 times. "In addition, in 2018 a subvention for the construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of public roads of local value in the amount of UAH 11.5 billion is foreseen," he said.

As examples of effective management, the participants learned about decentralization in Estonia, as well as the experience of the Tetiev and Omelʹnyk rural UTC (Kyiv and Poltava regions, respectively).

Subsequently, Igor Myklaschuk, chairman of the Institute for Cooperation and Local Self-Government (ICOLOS), presented the newly formed association, whose main tasks are: the formation of a horizontal network of leaders on a national scale, expert support of local self-government bodies and drafting of laws aimed at developing local self-governance.

In turn, the director of the Ukrainian agrarian lyceum Olena Yaroshynska presented a modern educational institution that has been operating for a year now in the Uman region: "Our task is to educate an active youth who is ready to change the country." Now, the Lyceum has an academic and professional department, and a methodological center SvitOsvit, whose main goal is to create and develop an effective education system in the united communities of Ukraine.

The main partner in the technology of the event was KUHN Company, the general agrochemical partner - UKRAVIT, general automobile partner - BMW, and financial partner - Alt Bank.