The Ukrainian Agri Council and the USAID Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities Activity (AGRO) as part of the project to support the economic recovery of Ukrainian agrarian sector, which suffered from Russia's military aggression, continue to help Ukrainian farmers fix losses caused as a result of military actions.

On October 19 and 20, 2022, UAC experts conducted two trainings for agricultural producers, during which they provided practical recommendations on collecting evidence and processing documents. More than 60 enterprises from 12 Ukraine’s regions, which are located in the de-occupied and occupied territories, as well as where active hostilities are taking place, joined the practical exercises.

During the training, project specialists applied the best international practices in recording war crimes and calculating the damages caused by them.

"For farmers, it is important to record all the losses, collect the necessary evidence and be ready for the compensation procedure, when the government develop it" explains Victoria Kypriyanova, an expert of the UAC on legal and rin the futureegulatory issues.

According to her, first of all, agricultural producers need to collect all the information that will confirm both the fact of damage as a result of military aggression, as well as direct losses and lost profits.

"Firstly it is necessary to contact the law enforcement agencies in order to record a crime against the civilians and objects then start a pre-trial investigation. This gives the company the opportunity to receive the status of a victim as a result of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. Then collect documents that confirm all expenses for the enterprise’s building, providing sowing, purchase of destroyed equipment, etc. It is also necessary to focus efforts on finding/restoring documents that prove the right of ownership/use of all the affected objects,"  says the lawyer.

While collecting materials to record the lost profit, it is necessary to prepare documents that confirm the unreceived income (for example, forward and other contracts related to product sale; data on non-fulfillment due to aggression, other contractual obligations that provided for income; documents that confirm income for previous years, etc.).

Special attention was paid to fix the losses of enterprises located in the occupied territories or in the war zone. Due to the danger to life and complicated communication with official representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, it is most difficult for this category of affected agricultural producers to collect the necessary documents. However, lawyers advise taking 6 steps:

1. Send a notification (it is possible in electronic form) to the military administration or to the local self-government body about the loss of effective control over the object in the temporarily occupied territory, point out the list of property and its value.

2. Declare a criminal offense to the Security Service of Ukraine in case a war crime committed against company’s property or police, if the crime was committed not as a result of military operations (for example, theft, deliberate arson)

3. Protect and preserve all property documents and primary documentation as much as possible.

4. If possible, independently record damage or destruction of property (in accordance with general recommendations), collect and store information from the mass media that may relate to your enterprise or the territory where it is located.

5. If it is impossible to save the primary documentation, inform State Tax Service of Ukraine about the impossibility of collecting the primary documents, signed by the head of the enterprise and the chief accountant, which states: the circumstances that led to the loss and/or impossibility of exporting the primary documents, tax (reporting) periods, as well as a general list of primary documents (if possible - with details).

6. Change the location of a legal entity in a jurisdiction controlled by Ukraine.

Agricultural producers had the opportunity to ask questions. In particular, they were interested in what to do when the book value of the damaged real estate object does not correspond to its market value; how to notify shareholders about force majeure, if their location is unknown, or some of them are in the occupied territories; how to act when the State Emergency Service refuses demining the land plots located 20 km from the border with the Russian Federation, etc.

"The project's lawyers are always ready to help and properly record losses. In addition, documents with evidence can be sent to us so that our experts can advise on how to correct the formalities or add the necessary materials. Moreover, we encourage you to look through the methodological recommendations implemented by our experts before starting the collection of evidence. This will allow you to understand the legal logic of fixing damages and have a meaningful conversation with our specialists during the support of your case, " the expert said.

Developed methodological recommendations are available at link .

There is also a free consultation line for businesses affected by hostilities. Call +38 067 503 19 08.

The event was possible thanks to the generous support of the American people provided through the USAID’s Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities Activity (AGRO) implemented by Chemonics International. The authors views do not necessarily reflect the view of USAID or the United States Government.