As part of “The Clash of the Agrotitans” event, an open discussion was held between farmers and Taras Vysotskyi, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine. In his speech, he emphasized the important role of the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC).

“Every year, you become stronger and more powerful. You are expanding, developing, and, without exaggeration, continuing to make a daily contribution to the stability of our state and the development of the agricultural sector. Thank you for standing strong.”

Taras Vysotskyi separately noted the UAC's active position in protecting farmers affected by the war. Thanks to the organization's efforts, a law was passed to defer loan payments for enterprises in the occupied territories. He noted that in the near future, the Ministry of Economy, together with the UAC, will work on changes in tax, labor, and land legislation to protect the interests of affected agricultural producers.

He also confirmed the political will to complete the land reclamation reform. A draft law on the creation of state operators has been prepared and may be adopted in its entirety as early as this fall. The consolidation of water users also remains a priority.

In addition, a number of initiatives are planned in the areas of land use and deregulation of the agricultural sector, improvement of state agricultural insurance, etc.

Despite the limited budget, a number of state support programs will continue to operate. These include compensation for the construction and reconstruction of livestock complexes; resumption of the greenhouse farming support program; payment of aid per hectare to affected farms starting in September, etc.

According to the Deputy Minister, public discussion of the roadmap for the agricultural sector's accession to the EU will begin in September.

“We will work together to defend Ukraine's interests on this path as much as possible,” he stressed.

UAC Chairman Andrii Dykun emphasized that compensation programs should give priority support to farmers who were forced to leave the occupied territories. He also cited staff shortages as one of the key challenges facing the industry. In his opinion, this problem can be solved by the return of millions of Ukrainians who left the country due to the war, as well as by training a new generation of specialists through the introduction of a compulsory school subject called “Agrosphere.”

“We would like to thank Taras Vysotskyi, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine, for his open dialogue and willingness to cooperate,” emphasized Andrii Dykun.