Today, August 30, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed a bill №7403-d, which abolishes the rule of non-refunding of VAT when exporting soybeans, seeds of stems and rape to producers who supply these crops abroad on their own.

"We express our gratitude to the President for joining the agrarian community and signing this law. He  broke the oligarchic arrangements, thus protecting the interests of small agricultural producers," said Andriy Dykun, Chairman of the UAC.

In case of non-signing of this law, from September 1, the norm on the abolition of the budget reimbursement of VAT on the export of soy would come into force. It would have been a devastating blow to all soybean farmers in 2018, as this would reduce their return on sales by 16.7%, and would allow oligarchic structures and transnational companies (owners of processing facilities) to enrich themselves at the expense of farmers. Also, the result of the entry into force of this norm would be a sharp increase in the shadow market. The lack of VAT reimbursement would stimulate the purchase of soy and canola for "black cash" at a price exclusive of VAT with subsequent export, without compensation and without returning foreign currency proceeds to the country.

In addition, the abolition of VAT refunds on the export of oilseeds is a flagrant violation of the commitments that Ukraine has made in its accession to the WTO and the signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union.

Recall that the Verkhovna Rada adopted the bill No. 7403-d on the basis and in general on May 22. 249 people's deputies voted in favor of the corresponding decision, with the required minimum of 226 votes. However, the refund of VAT refunds only for exporters, as stipulated by the draft law No. 7403-d, is only a partial solution to the "oil amendments", since small farmers will not be able to form large batches of soy for export.

Deputies also considered draft law No. 7403-2, on adoption of which the agrarians insisted. It offered to abolish discriminatory amendments and refund export refunds for all oil producers. He was supported by 15 regional councils, international organizations, leading industry experts. But in the end, for its adoption, only 110 deputies voted.

Earlier, in order to crack down against the lobbyists of the "oligarchic structures" and to bring the bill number 7403-2 into the agenda of the parliament, the agrarians were forced to close the main highways of the country three times, arrange protest actions under the profile tax council of the Council and the parliament building.