On November 27, Andrii Dykun, Chairman of the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC), met with farmers in Zhytomyr region to discuss the most important issues of the agricultural sector. The main issues included labor reservation, access to credit programs, and the prospects of Ukraine's accession to the EU.

The farmers emphasized that the issue of reservation of workers from military deferment for the sowing campaign remains unresolved. The government's resolution on labor reservation has been amended three times, but many producers still do not understand the mechanism of its operation.

“We have a situation where farmers are left without clear rules of the game. It is extremely important for farmers to know who they can count on during the sowing season, and now almost all reservations are being removed,” said Andrii Dykun.

The UAC proposes to solve this problem systematically. “Our advisory center is ready to develop a fair and clear document for reserving employees, which will ensure the stability of the agricultural sector in the most important periods,” emphasized the Chairman of the UAC.

Another important topic was expanding access to the state program “5-7-9%”. According to Dykun, farmers need to increase credit limits to meet their production needs during the war.

“I recently met with representatives of the World Bank to discuss this issue. We asked our international partners to support the Ukrainian agricultural sector, because its stability means stability of food security not only for Ukraine but also for the world,” he said.

In the context of European integration, Andrii Dykun emphasized that Ukraine can become a key player in ensuring food security in Europe.

“Ukraine is able to help Europe avoid another wave of migration from Southern Africa by providing these regions with food. However, we are now losing export markets: since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has lost access to more than 20 African countries,” Dykun said.

According to him, European countries are somewhat cautious about the integration of the Ukrainian agricultural sector because of its competitiveness.

“The Ukrainian agricultural sector is a strong player, and this causes some concerns among European farmers. However, we must work to ensure that our potential is perceived as an advantage, not a threat,” added the UAC Chairman.