Today, the UAC Deputy Chairman took part in the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy session, during which the issues of state support for the agro-industrial complex and important bills (which were initiated by the UAC) were considered.

The Agrarian Committee has agreed to allocate UAH 4,5 billion to support the agricultural sector in 2021.

For the first time, three new programs, which the UAC insisted on, were included to the state support. In particular, state support for agricultural insurance, irrigation, compensation for crop losses in the Odessa region.

People's Deputies allocated UAH 500 million for new programs:

• State support for agricultural insurance - UAH 50 million
• Compensation for crop losses in the Odesa region - UAH 240 million
• State support for irrigation - UAH 50 million
• Support for organic production - UAH 50 million
• State support for the development of potato growing - UAH 60 million
• Niche crops - UAH 50 million

According to the distribution of funds, UAH 4 billion will be used to support the main areas:

• Partial compensation for the cost of agricultural machinery of domestic production - UAH 1 billion;
• Financial support by reducing the cost of loans - UAH 1,2 billion;
• Financial support for development, horticulture, viticulture and hop growing - UAH 450 million;
• Financial support for the development of farms - UAH 200 million;
• State support for livestock development and agricultural products processing - UAH 1,150 billion.

The draft bill №5509, which simplifies the process of the connecting facilities to the grid, was also discussed. Mykhailo Sokolov mentioned that in order to create new jobs (that will be created at new enterprises) and economic development in general, this draft bill should be adopted as soon as possible.

Regarding fuel licensing, the UAC Deputy Chairman Mykhailo Sokolov said that farmers receive huge fines of UAH 500,000 because of formal reasons. This situation has to be changed.

At the same time, they approved the draft law “On the Water Users Association (WUA)” and the draft law, which introduces amendments to the “Tax Code”, related to the WUA activities. The bills are expected to be registered in parliament in the near future.