Agrarians are convinced that the rules on non-reimbursement of VAT when exporting soybeans and rape lead to the enrichment of processors at the expense of farmers due to the expected decline in purchasing prices for oil crops.

Such a variant of the answer was chosen by 86% of agricultural producers during the voting, which took place at the V International Agri Invest Forum Investor Conference on May 16 in Kyiv.

At the same time, only 14% of respondents indicated that the cancellation of VAT reimbursement for the export of soy and rapeseed would lead to the development of national soybean processing.

Four hundred fifty representatives of agrarian enterprises from different corners of Ukraine took part in the voting, so the sample is representative.

The fact is that oil processing in Ukraine is already cost-effective. Therefore, the arguments of supporters of “soy editions” on the need to increase processing capacity at the expense of small and medium-sized producers make no sense. Moreover, according to the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, the processing capacity of rape exceeds the total production of this crop in our country.

"We made our requests to the Institute of Agrarian Economics, and also to the Ukroilprom Association, to know the amount of available soybean processing capacity. In both cases, we received the same answer: 1 million tons of specialized soybean processing, and 5 million tons of multifunctional processing of oilseeds, soybeans in particular ", - said Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council Mikhail Sokolov.

Ivan Miroshnichenko, People's Deputy, noted that the losses of small and medium-sized farmers will reach over UAH 8 billion as a result of "oil change".

It will finally reduce the crop area under soybean and rape.

According to the survey, if the rules on non-reimbursement of VAT when exporting oilseeds will not be canceled, 76% of agricultural producers will not grow soybeans in 2019. According to the results of the vote, 67.8% of the surveyed farmers were growing beans in the past year. In 2018, this indicator dropped to 55.4%.

To restore justice and return the export VAT refunds for soybean and rape farmers have drafted the bill No. 7403-2. Fifteen regional councils, international institutions, a number of people's deputies and all major agricultural associations supported the document.

The Verkhovna Rada plans to consider this bill tomorrow, May 17. If the deputies once again ignore the demands of the farmers and do not vote for the VAT refunds when exporting oilseeds, agricultural producers will continue large-scale protests throughout the country.