The government is offering farmers a 10% duty on soybean and rapeseed exports, but exports have stopped and prices have collapsed. What will farmers do?

The Ukrainian government is offering farmers a 10% duty on soybean and rapeseed exports, and later promises to prepare a new bill and refund the duties paid. But most producers are stopping the export of these goods while waiting for the legislation to be settled. Traders are suffering the most from this situation, as they are forced to pay for the downtime of ships that are scheduled to load about 500,000 tons of soybean and rapeseed.

Business associations are calling on the authorities to repeal or postpone the law, as the existing mechanism is not working. Farmers are not willing to pay the duty without guarantees of its refund, and traders are not willing to bear the costs. This creates a risk of disruption of contracts and soybean exports, which are due to begin in October.

According to the participants of the meetings, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine will develop criteria that will determine the manufacturer and origin of products, as well as a mechanism that will allow returning 10% of the customs duty to farmers who exported their own products. The department promises to develop amendments to the Law, agree on them with representatives of specialized associations and businesses, and then submit them for consideration by the Verkhovna Rada. But all this will take at least two months.

Due to the suspension of exports, prices for soybeans and rapeseed in Ukraine fell by 1,000-2,000 UAH/t in a week, but farmers are not yet ready to protest against the unprofessional actions of the government and parliament, which adopted the law on customs duties without ensuring its normal functioning, which is now disrupting the export of soybeans and rapeseed.

The government's unprofessional actions are hindering the receipt of export revenues from the largest sector of Ukraine's economy and undermining Ukraine's reputation as a reliable supplier of grain and oilseeds. We recall that even at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukrainian traders and producers quickly restored grain supplies to the world market and ensured the stable operation of the economy.