In order to protect the interests of agrarians and the ability of agricultural enterprises to work amid war, the UAC focused on legislative support for agricultural producers.

The UAC cooperated side by side with state authorities, international politicians, partners and donors - more than 500 meetings were held. Andrii Dykun, the chair of the Ukrainian Agri Council , presented the ways to restore the agricultural sector of Ukraine to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and discussed with former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson the possibility of creating a fund to help Ukrainian farmers.

We have assembled a team of experts who conduct active legal consulting and analytical work. Prepared more than 25 packages of documents for proposals, more than 50 appeals and requests to various state authorities. With the support and active participation of the UAC, more than 20 draft laws and resolutions were adopted.

With the support of USAID AGRO, a free consultation line was opened for agricultural producers on issues of documenting war crimes, as well as assistance for agricultural producers during the war. In total, professional responses were prepared to 1,500 appeals from agricultural enterprises.

In the first days of the war, the UAC was one of the first to declare that the war would threaten the food security of the world and provoke famine in poor countries. They actively informed the international community about the importance of opening ports and efficiently worked on unblocking Ukrainian exports of agricultural products. They supported the European Union's abolition of quotas and duties on domestic agricultural products.

TOP-15 supported initiatives of the UAC in 2022:

1. Discrimination against legal exporters was eliminated. Unjustified regulations regarding the mandatory deposit of 15% of the value of exported goods were removed in the draft law No. 8166-D on the introduction of special export procedures, which was developed by the UAC and supported by the Tax Committee of the Verkhovna Rada.

2. Amendments to the legislation were developed, which canceled the payment of the eco-tax for electric generators and the license to store fuel for them.

3. We participated in the development of a draft law, which exempted from duty payment when importing polymer sleeves for grain storage and equipment for their loading/unloading.

4. Actively supported draft laws No. 7646 and No. 7647 on improvement of responsibility for collaborative activities and decriminalization of economic activities in the occupied territories, if this does not constitute assistance to the aggressor state.

5. Together with USAID, AGRO developed methodological recommendations for recording the damage caused by the war and created an interactive map of the destruction of the agricultural sector www.agrirecovery.com.ua

6. Initiated changes to the Cabinet of Ministers' resolutions, which extended the terms of deferrals for employees of agricultural enterprises for the period of mobilization.

7. Together with Minagro, we simplified the booking procedure and created an electronic cabinet for booking requests for employees of agricultural enterprises mobplan.minagro.gov.ua

8. Amendments regarding the exemption of farmers of the occupied and front-line territories from paying the tax of the 4th group are currently under consideration in the parliament.

9. Thanks to the hard work of the UAC and USAID AGRO, the deputies adopted the Law of Ukraine On Organizations of Water Users and Stimulation of Hydrotechnical Land Reclamation.

10. Supported the development of by-laws for the implementation of the law on water users’ organizations: its model charter, changes to the classification of organizational forms, etc. As a result, by the end of 2022, the first two organizations of water users have already been registered in Ukraine.

11. Together with Minagro, the Agrarian Committee of the Verkhovna Rada and with the support of USAID, AGRO developed the draft Law of Ukraine No. 7577 "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts Regarding the Improvement of the Management System of Engineering Infrastructure Objects of State-Owned Reclamation Systems", which is a continuation of the irrigation reform.

12. Changes to the regulatory acts regarding the protection of the interests of power grid users have been implemented, in particular, the procedure for connecting to power grids has been simplified.

13. The proposals of the UAC regarding the clear separation of responsibilities between producers and users of agrochemicals were taken into account for draft law No. 4558, which regulates the use of pesticides and agrochemicals.

14. A number of initiatives aimed at debureaucratizing the grain transportation by road have been implemented.

15. The export of millet was unblocked by canceling the export limits of the specified products.

We are grateful to all our partners for their fruitful work amid war. We believe in our Armed Forces! We continue to work together for victory in the new year 2023!