Farmers all over Ukraine have the same problems: bureaucracy, "chess" in the fields, demanding landlords, taxes, and so on. And only farmers in Luhansk and Donetsk regions face specific obstacles to work caused by the war. It is hard to imagine, but in 8 years of war these problems remain unsolved. The UAC has recently begun to study the needs of farmers who are close to the front line. In an interview with Agravery director of the Eastern Donbass Regional Development Agency and coordinator of the UAC in Luhansk region Larysa Bychkova spoke about the issues that hinder to work the most and how they plan to solve them.

What problems of farmers in the eastern regions are the most harmful?

- It has been only three months since we began to study the problems of farmers in Luhansk region, and soon we will have the full range of problems of the local agricultural sector. Since the autumn of last year, we have already managed to visit 35 farms and we can name three main problems, inherent only in Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

The first one - is understanding of work at local fields, and most of the farmers we patronize are engaged in crop production. The second one - is the location of fortifications and the European embankment, which are often located in the fields, and the third one - is destroyed logistics infrastructure.

And what about the shelling? Do you often have to work under attacks?

- Currently, shelling is not as frequent as in 2015-2016. It is calmer now, but it still happens with farmers who are too close to the front line. And no one wants to listen and agree to stop the shelling during the works. So, farmers already have to adapt. Everyone goes to work in the fields at their own risk.

But the problem of mined fields is faced by all farmers on whose fields the war has swept since 2014. For example, one farmer from Popasna district spend UAH500,00 to demine two fields of 100 hectares.

Who takes the money for it?

- There are private companies that do this. Government agencies or international technical assistance have been doing this for a long time. You can wait 4 years for the field to be demines completely. And people need to work today. Nobody canceled the rent for the land. The farmer who decided to spend the money did not even know that he had explosives in the field. The fact that his tractor driver was cut off by shell fragments while he was working with a seeder in the field forced farmer to pay a considerable sum. It is good that the unit had a large scope and the projectile exploded relatively far from the tractor. After demining, private companies found two more shells, one of which belonged to the Second World War.

The UAC finds out the exact number of fields that cannot be used due to the threat of explosives. When we understand the scope of work, then we will decide which way to go to demine them.

And what is wrong with fortifications?

- The second problem is the fortifications located in the fields and the "wall" project on the border with Russia. Pillars, trenches, various military facilities complicate agriculture. Also, the "European wall" is a wall on the border with Russia, which took 50 meters of land. According to estimates, 3,000 hectares in the Luhansk region are under these facilities. We are not against these buildings, but the land under them is leased, and it cannot be cultivated. For our part, we appeal to the Ministry of Defense and ask the state to buy these lands, and we even estimated that it would cost about UAH103 million. But the state doesn’t react. Of course, we will not stop and will continue to lobby for this issue through deputies, so that the funds for the ransom will be provided in the state budget.

Tell us about the logistical problems of the region.

- Before the war, all logistics chains were directed towards Russia. This direction is currently blocked. The former railway cannot be used. Its path passes through the occupied territories. In order for the Luhansk region to be able to export grain properly, about 48 km of tracks need to be completed with the help of the railway. According to 2019, this required UAH5 billion.

The railway was also connected to the infrastructure, which is currently not working. These are both elevators along the way and grain transshipment stations. There are huge storage facilities that are not used because they fell out of the supply chain. And there are many such examples. These storage facilities need to be rebuilt, or railway tracks need to be designed and built.

This state of affairs rejects farmers in Luhansk region in the 60s and 70s. The agribusiness in Luhansk region suffers, because we cannot compete with farmers from other regions. Local farmers have to transport most of the crop by truck. Now the roads have become better, they have been repaired. But it is UAH500-700 more expensive to export grain by truck.

Local businesses have started building new grain transshipment points along the old spare track, but it is the only one and cannot service the amount that needs to be exported after the harvest. During the season, trucks stand in line for unloading for a month.

What other problems do farmers have in the eastern regions?

Another pressing issue is crop insurance. Currently, the law on agricultural insurance has come into force, but insurance companies do not want to deal with farmers in Luhansk region. I will emphasize that not only with those who work on the line of demarcation, but with all farmers of the region.

The harvest is often lost due to hostilities. A shell may arrive, and if the wheat is ripe, a fire is inevitable. Fields burned in every farm. Again, military equipment does not pay attention to the harvest and can go to the planted field.

Also add problems when selling land: notaries do not do their job correctly. Afforestations are growing in the fields, and nothing can be changed.

There is also a shortage of staff, vocational schools fail. We have 6 agricultural schools, but they have outdated educational approaches. This approach leads to the decline of the entire agricultural sector in the eastern regions. Together with international organizations, we conducted educations for teachers of Svativskyi Lyceum. A tractor and some equipment were bought so that the children would understand, in the end, what they will work with after graduating. Students studied using all equipment.

How does the UAC help farmers in Luhansk region?

- Firstly, it is lobbying the interests of farmers at the legislative level. No one understands the intricacies of the work of farmers as the UAC understands. When you come to the farm, the director often says: "We do not need anything, the main thing is that the state does not touch us." But when laws are passed, someone has to convey to deputies the agreed positions of farmers, otherwise laws are taken away from reality. For example, when land market reform appeared, according to the first versions of the law, small and medium-sized farmers could be left without land. And farmers were worried, the UAC made 35 amendments, which protected medium and small farms from the loss of arable land.

Legal and accounting assistance from the UAC also helps our farmers a lot. Legislation changes too quickly and farmers cannot keep up with the changes. However, only a few can hire highly qualified staff for document management.

The UAC participants can buy fertilizers and fuel at wholesale prices. The association includes the First Ukrainian Agricultural cooperative, which provides an opportunity to unite during the purchase of the necessary things for farms’ work. Also, large batches of products, which can be sold at higher prices, are formed.