The Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC) has addressed an official letter to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal urging the authorities to urgently review the new rules for setting minimum export prices. This refers to CMU Resolution No. 331 of March 21, 2025 “On Amendments to the Procedure for Approval of Minimum Export Prices for Certain Types of Goods”.

The new mechanism, which was approved without proper public discussion, effectively makes it impossible to export certain types of agricultural products. In particular, this refers to the rule that the minimum export price cannot be lower than the minimum price of the previous month.

In its appeal, the UAC emphasizes that none of the current regulatory documents clearly defines what exactly is considered the “minimum price” and does not describe the mechanism for its calculation. Therefore, this provision cannot be applied in practice.

“In addition, if we assume that the minimum prices mean the minimum export price of the previous month, this rule does not actually take into account the economic mechanisms of pricing, including price fluctuations in the direction of their decrease. After all, the above rule implies that the minimum export price may increase, but cannot decrease even if prices actually fall, which is typical for the global agricultural market, which is highly volatile in certain periods. In turn, the excess of the minimum allowable export prices over the world market prices will lead to the blocking of exports of the relevant types of agricultural products, which will be equivalent to the blocking of Ukrainian seaports at the beginning of a full-scale invasion,” is mentioned in the statement.

The UAC experts are convinced that this problem arose due to the CMU's violation of the law, namely, the requirements of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Principles of State Regulatory Policy in the Field of Economic Activity”.

“The draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Procedure for Approval of Minimum Export Prices for Certain Types of Goods” was not made public at the stage of its development, and consultations with representatives of business associations were not held to develop the relevant provisions, which led to the approval of the above-mentioned erroneous provision along with useful and necessary changes supported by the vast majority of market participants,” is explained in the appeal.

The UAC calls on the government to immediately amend the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 944 dated August 20, 2024 and remove the provision on setting the minimum allowable price at a level not lower than the minimum price for the previous month.