Representatives of the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC) met with the newly appointed Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture Oleksii Sobolev. The agenda included the most painful issues for agricultural producers: suspending loans for occupied enterprises, support for farmers affected by drought, and the need to revise the normative monetary valuation of land in southern Ukraine.

One of the main focuses of the meeting was the issue of the law No. 4340-IX on freezing loans for farmers from the occupied territories, which has been awaiting the President's signature for more than three months. Andrii Dykun, Chairman of the Ukrainian Agri Council, clearly outlined the consequences of not signing it:

"It is wrong to force farmers from the ‘red zone’ to choose between begging because the banks will take everything or staying in the occupied territory and becoming a collaborator to be able to feed their families. The President should support farmers and sign this law. We have been asking for three years to help farmers in the occupied territories. It is extremely important."

The Minister assured that he supports the position of farmers and is ready to convey it to the President.

The meeting also discussed irrigation reform. A member of the UAC, Serhii Rybalko, emphasized that water management should be transferred to Water Users Organizations and the State Agency for Land Reclamation, and the State Agency for Water Resources should be deprived of its economic functions.

For his part, the Minister emphasized the priority of irrigation development as one of the key areas of agricultural policy. He also announced the creation of the Deputy Minister who will specialize exclusively in land reclamation, which will allow the state to focus resources and attention on restoring and modernizing irrigation systems.

In addition, farmers asked for support for farms affected by drought in the form of payments per hectare and drew attention to the problem of excessively high normative monetary valuation of land in the south. The UAC insists on making changes to the calculation methodology, taking into account soil moisture coefficients, to ensure a fair tax burden for farmers in arid regions.

The UAC thanks the Minister and his team for their openness to dialogue and constructive approach to solving the problems of the agricultural sector. We hope for real changes and effective support of agricultural producers.