Today, a regional meeting of agricultural producers and participants of the Ukrainian Agri Council from Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Kyiv and Mykolaiv regions was held in Uman. The topics for discussion were: the state support for the agricultural sector in wartime, the state of agricultural exports, tax issues and the main areas of work of the UAC, including representation of the interests of the small and medium-sized agricultural sector in the EU.
According to Andrii Dykun, the UAC Chairman, Ukraine has embarked on a course of European integration, and this has become another challenge for farmers.
"We have a lot of work to do: we need to develop a position for joining the European Union and understand how to protect the interests of the agricultural sector in the context of European integration. This process is gaining momentum, and many changes in legislation are expected. We must be ready to join the EU. That is why our team has gathered the best experts to study EU legislation in the main areas of the agricultural sector in order to understand how to protect our rights in the context of European integration," said Andrii Dykun.
The UAC Chairman also shared the good news following the meetings with representatives of European institutions.
"The Europeans have begun to realize that they need to look for effective financial instruments to support small and medium-sized businesses with 500 to 1,500 hectares or even more, because now only large companies or farms with up to 500 hectares receive assistance," he added.
In addition, Andriy Dykun spoke about the extension of the preferential loan program and land reform.
"As for financing the agricultural sector, the only program that works for small and medium-sized agribusinesses today is the state program of preferential lending "5-7-9". The good news is that this program has been extended until March 2025. Funds for its operation are provided by the World Bank. This money is earmarked and is intended only for use in the agricultural sector. Therefore, it is unclear why the credit limits cannot be increased from UAH 90 million to UAH 180 million when farmers need it. The UAC has repeatedly raised this issue, but all that has been achieved is to increase credit limits for companies that have processing facilities. The UAC will continue to advocate for an increase in credit limits for all agricultural producers. We will also continue to work on reducing the limits for the sale of agricultural land, which will be 10,000 hectares from January 1, 2024. We have not received a final response to the petition to the President, but we do not stop, because the UAC is the only organization that supports small and medium-sized agribusiness," said Andrii Dykun.
