The Verkhovna Rada has supported a bill to introduce a 10% export duty on soybeans, kohlrabi and rapeseed (crushed and uncrushed) with an annual 1% reduction in the rate by 2030, to 5%, MP Serhiy Labaziuk (For the Future parliamentary faction) said in a telegram channel.
The MP added that at the same time a special fund will be created – the State Fund for Support of Agricultural Producers, which, given the existing export volumes (without adjustment for a 10% decrease in value/volumes) of oilseeds, will amount to almost $500 million.
“But with the increase in processing, changes in export prices, and a decrease in the volume of raw materials, revenues will fall. And it will be difficult not to give part of the revenues to the state budget. Therefore, if we manage to raise UAH 3-5 billion for the fund, it will be a victory,” Labaziuk said.
MP Oleksiy Honcharenko (European Solidarity faction) clarified in a Telegram that 245 MPs supported the draft law.
“This is just a shame. They sneaked in the draft law on industrial pollution – duties for farmers. They promised to serve the people, but they serve schemes,” he commented on the document.
As reported, the “soybean amendments” are changes to the Tax Code of Ukraine introduced at the end of 2017. They concerned the procedure for VAT (value-added tax) refunds for soybean and rapeseed exports.
For several years in a row, Stepan Kapshuk, CEO of the Ukroliyaprom association, proposed to ban the export of 50% of the rapeseed crop from the country to increase the utilization of Ukrainian processing capacities, which, in particular in 2024, were significantly short of raw materials.
Subsequently, Dmytro Kysylevskyi, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on economic development, prepared draft law No. 13134, which, with amendment No. 40, provided for the introduction of a 10% export duty on rapeseed and soybeans. He argued that Ukrainian soybean and rapeseed processing plants are underutilized by 35%, and if they are used, Ukraine will receive an additional UAH 7.3 billion in state budget revenues to finance the Armed Forces, and an additional $238 million will allow for the construction of dozens of plants and the creation of thousands of new jobs.
A number of associations criticized the idea of the draft law “On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine on Expanding Patient Access to Medicines Subject to Procurement by a Person Authorized to Make Procurement in the Healthcare Sector by Concluding Managed Access Agreements”, which provided for the imposition of duties on the export of soybeans and rapeseed from Ukraine. According to the business associations, they are discriminatory towards small and medium-sized producers, aim to increase the profits of processors at the expense of small and medium-sized farmers and violate the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.
On June 18, the Verkhovna Rada did not support this initiative.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will cover the risks of Credit Agricole Bank (Kyiv) for EUR 100 million on new business loans in various sectors of the economy – agribusiness, manufacturing, energy and logistics, as well as to support Ukraine’s energy security.
According to the bank’s website, a EUR 100 million risk-sharing agreement to boost lending to medium and large businesses in the agribusiness, manufacturing, energy and logistics sectors, as well as to support energy security, was signed on July 11, 2025.
About 30% of the loan funds are planned to be used to finance small-scale renewable energy projects, the implementation of climate-smart solutions in agriculture, and energy efficiency measures.
The program is being implemented with the financial support of the French government, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the UK Department for International Development under the World Bank Group’s Guarantee Facility.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of April 1, 2025, Credit Agricole Bank ranked 11th in terms of total assets among 60 banks in the country – UAH 119.6 billion, or 3.2% of the market.
Grocery supermarket chain Varus will invest UAH 150 million in the installation of rooftop solar power plants (SPP) at 48 of its 115 facilities, the Ukrainian Council of Shopping Centers (UCC) has reported.
According to the report, the total capacity of the SPP will reach 4.8 thousand kWh, which will generate more than 5 million kW of electricity per year. The payback period of the project is estimated at two years.
The planned generation will amount to 21% of the annual consumption of supermarkets, with annual savings of UAH 50 million. It is noted that the company has chosen the model of direct consumption of generated energy due to the high cost of storage systems. The SPP will cover 95% of supermarkets’ electricity needs during the day.
The company plans to further expand the project to the entire supermarket chain and explore the possibility of installing gas diesel generators.
As reported, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has issued a $25 million loan to Varus for the reconstruction and modernization of equipment in existing stores, lease of a new warehouse, and installation of a solar power plant to reduce dependence on the grid.
Varus is a national supermarket chain represented on the Ukrainian grocery retail market by Omega. The chain’s first store was opened in 2003 in Dnipro, and the total number of its stores is 114 in different cities of Ukraine, including a DarkStore in Kyiv. The chain operates in several formats: classic supermarkets, To Go stores and the online store varus.ua.
According to Opendatabot, the owner of Omega LLC is Cyprus-based Weigant Enterprises Limited, with Valeriy Kiptyk and Ruslan Shostak listed as the ultimate beneficiaries.
According to the company’s financial results for 2024, its revenue increased by 14.3% compared to the previous year and amounted to UAH 20 billion. The company’s net profit decreased by 80.9% to UAH 38.2 million.
The National Bank of Ukraine has fined Aventus Ukraine LLC 2.448 million hryvnia for violations identified during an inspection.
According to the NBU website, this measure was taken for violating the requirements of the Law “On Consumer Lending” and the provisions on establishing additional requirements for interaction with consumers of financial services and other persons in the settlement of overdue debts (ethical conduct requirements).
Aventus Ukraine LLC is required to pay the fine within one month of the date this decision comes into force.
Furthermore, the company received a written warning from the regulator for violating the requirements of the Law “On Consumer Lending,” the provisions on licensing and registration of financial service providers and the conditions for their activities in the provision of financial services, and the provisions on the authorization of financial service providers and the conditions for their activities in the provision of financial services.
Aventus Ukraine LLC must take measures to eliminate the causes and conditions that contributed to these violations.
These decisions were made by the Committee for Supervision and Regulation of Non-Bank Financial Services Markets on July 14, 2025, based on the results of scheduled inspections.
Aventus Ukraine LLC was registered in January 2017. The company’s authorized capital is UAH 20 million.
In June 2025, the Export Credit Agency (ECA) supported UAH 885.5 million of exports by insuring 11 loans worth UAH 106.4 million issued by Ukrainian banks to entrepreneurs to fulfill export contracts.
According to the ECA website, the agency’s largest partners among banks in this period were Oschadbank (UAH 64.4 million in financing), Creditwest Bank (UAH 20 million), and Pivdenny Bank (UAH 20 million).
In June, exporters in Odesa region (UAH 386.7 million of future export revenues), Kyiv (UAH 232.8 million), and Dnipropetrovs’k region (UAH 153 million) were the most likely to use ECA services.
The largest contracts during this period were for the supply of Ukrainian goods to Switzerland, Estonia, and the Czech Republic, and the most popular export commodity groups were flour, wood products, and ferrous metal products.
The Export Credit Agency of Ukraine (ECA) is a government agency that supports non-resource exports by insuring the risks of enterprises and banks. The agency insures foreign trade contracts, export credits, bank guarantees, and investment loans against war risks.
In January-June 2025, Ukraine reduced exports of sunflower oil to 2.407 mln tonnes and revenues to $2.77 bln, down 33.5% and 2.4%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.
According to the statistics released by the State Customs Service, the main buyers of Ukrainian sunflower oil in January-June this year were Spain and Italy, which accounted for 12.88% and 12.18% of exports, respectively, and India with a share of 11.77%. These countries spent $356.945 mln, $337.494 mln and $326.071 mln on the purchase of sunflower oil from Ukraine, respectively.
Exports of rapeseed oil decreased by 3.6 times in this period compared to January-June 2024, to 19.992 mln tonnes, while the revenue was 2.9 times lower and amounted to $58.015 mln.
At the same time, this year Ukraine increased exports of soybean oil by 52% in the first half of the year compared to 287.052 mln tonnes a year ago and doubled the revenue to $295.034 mln.
The main buyers of Ukrainian rapeseed oil were the Netherlands, which accounted for 39.29% of the exported volume, bringing Ukraine $7.750 million, Germany – 21.44% and $4.23 million, Slovakia – 13.13% and $2.591 million, respectively.
Among the most active buyers of Ukrainian soybean oil were Poland – 63.97% of exports worth $188.736 mln, India – 9.02% worth $26.616 mln, and Germany – 4.04% worth $11.925 mln.
In the reporting period, exports of other non-volatile fats and vegetable oils also increased by 1.9 times to 988 thsd tonnes, which is $2.409 mln in monetary terms compared to $2.124 mln a year ago.
At the same time, the import of palm oil to Ukraine in January-June 2025 increased by 2% compared to the first half of 2024 – up to 50.708 thsd tonnes. In monetary terms, the imports amounted to $71.651 mln (+15.2%). Ukraine purchased palm oil from Malaysia – 59.79% of imports of this product, worth $42.839 million, India – 35.7%, worth $25.581 million, and Sweden – 4.17%, worth $2.99 million.
Ukraine’s purchases of olive oil increased by 60.9% to 1.083 million tons, and the cost of purchasing it also increased by 3.5% to $8.277 million. Its main suppliers were Italy (42.55%), Spain (29.62%) and Greece (23.2%). They earned $3.522 million, $2.452 million, and $1.92 million from sales to Ukraine, respectively.
