At a meeting on Friday, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to compensate up to 50% of the cost of restoring and building reclamation systems for water user organizations, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported.
According to Resolution No. 628 “On Amendments to the Procedure for the Use of Funds Provided in the State Budget for Providing State Support to Agricultural Producers Using Reclaimed Land and Water User Organizations” developed by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, farmers using reclaimed land can receive compensation for the reconstruction and modernization of existing or construction of new reclamation systems, as well as for the restoration of pumping stations.
The amount of assistance for farmers will not exceed UAH 26.5 thousand per 1 hectare of cultivated land subject to hydraulic reclamation, excluding the cost of sprinklers.
The budgetary subsidy is provided for the works and reclamation systems commissioned for the period from November 1, 2023 to October 31, 2024.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy clarified that farmers will submit applications for budgetary funds and documents for it through the State Agrarian Register. The Ministry will announce the start of the application process later.
In 2024, state-owned Ukrgasbank (Kyiv) provided UAH 40 million in loans to farmers working in high-risk military areas, up from UAH 120 million a year earlier, said Tetyana Korinenko, director of the Small and Medium Business Department.
“Of course, a client who wants to get a loan must meet the bank’s requirements. A very negative factor for a significant share of clients who would like to receive financing is (requirement – IF-U) to be located in a safe territory. We also have requirements that the client must operate in an area no more than 50 km from the front line. But we also have cases using guarantee instruments provided by the state in the form of a guarantee from the Cabinet of Ministers and the Partial Guarantee Fund. We have already come closer to 22 km to the front line,” she said at Grain Ukraine in Kyiv on Friday.
According to Kornienko, Ukrgasbank has four clients from the agricultural sector in Kherson region who received loans to operate within a 30-kilometer zone from the military operations. In their case, state guarantee instruments cover 50-80% of the loan issued by the bank.
“This is a cool tool that allows us to help clients from the agricultural sector who work as close as possible to the area of active military operations,” the expert said.
Kornienko clarified that in 2024, Ukrgasbank lent about UAH 40 million to farmers working in the high military risk zone. A year earlier, this figure was 120 million.
“Of course, this is not much compared to our annual UAH 5 billion loans to the agricultural sector. But with each such client, we understand that we are giving the market an impetus, showing that it is possible to work in this way. It is also possible to have credit relations with such clients. And this risk is acceptable thanks to government instruments,” summarized the Ukrgasbank representative.
JSB “Ukrgasbank” was established in 1993. The state, represented by the Ministry of Finance, owns 94.9409% of the financial institution’s shares.
As of April 18, Ukraine planted 2.053 million hectares with spring grains and legumes, up 42.6% year-on-year, the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported on Friday.
According to the report, 204.7 thousand hectares were planted with wheat (173.9 thousand hectares a week earlier), 741.5 thousand hectares with barley (683.4 thousand hectares), 157 thousand hectares with peas (147.7 thousand hectares), and 136.6 thousand hectares with oats (117 thousand hectares).
Last week, Ukrainian farmers sowed grains and pulses on the area of 792.6 thou hectares. A week earlier, this figure was 408.6 thou hectares, and 375.4 thou hectares the week before.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, Kyiv region is the leader in terms of sowing, having planted 27.1 thou hectares of wheat, 40.1 thou hectares of barley, 4.8 thou hectares of peas and 4.3 thou hectares of oats; Ternopil region has planted 18.9 thou hectares of wheat, 63.3 thou hectares of barley and 4.3 thou hectares of oats. hectares of wheat, 63.6 thousand hectares of barley, 3.6 thousand hectares of peas and 5.1 thousand hectares of oats; Khmelnytsky – 18.9 thousand hectares of oats; Khmelnytsky – 3.8 thousand hectares of oats; Khmelnytsky – 3.3 thousand hectares of peas and 5.1 thousand hectares of oats. Khmelnytsky – on 14.8 thousand hectares of wheat, 59.1 thousand hectares of barley, 2.6 thousand hectares of peas and 2.5 thousand hectares of oats; Zhytomyr – on 14.5 thousand hectares of wheat, 16.6 thousand hectares of barley, 2.8 thousand hectares of peas and 2.5 thousand hectares of oats; Zhytomyr – on 14.5 thousand hectares of wheat, 16.6 thousand hectares of barley, 2.8 thousand hectares of peas and 2.5 thousand hectares of oats. Zhytomyr – on 14.5 thou hectares of wheat, 16.6 thou hectares of barley, 2.8 thou hectares of peas and 20.1 thou hectares of oats; Vinnytsia – on 11.5 thou hectares of wheat, 55 thou hectares of barley, 6 thou hectares of peas and 1.1 thou hectares of oats.
Sunflower was sown on 1.395 mln ha (470.1 thou ha a week earlier). In 15 regions, soybeans are being sown, with 116.3 thousand hectares already covered. Sugar beet has been planted on 223.7 thou hectares. In Vinnytsia, Poltava, Khmelnytsky, and Chernihiv regions, early sugar beet sowing has been completed.
Sowing of buckwheat and millet has begun in Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Khmelnytsky, Kherson and Chernihiv regions.
According to the April forecast of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, in 2024, the country’s gross production of grains and oilseeds is expected to reach 74 million tons, including about 52.4 million tons of grains and 21.7 million tons of oilseeds.
In 2024, farmers will be able to harvest 19.2 million tons of wheat (22.2 million tons in 2023), 4.9 million tons of barley (5.7 million tons), 26.7 million tons of corn (30.5 million tons), 5.2 million tons of soybeans (4.7 million tons), 12.4 million tons of sunflower (12.9 million tons), and 4.1 million tons of rapeseed (4.7 million tons).
In 2024, the planted areas of grains and pulses are forecasted at 10.6 mln ha, which is 395 thou ha lower than in 2023.
Polish farmers plan to allow trucks to pass through the checkpoint “Rawa-Russkaya – Grebennoye” to enter Poland, except for those moving goods of groups 1-24 of the UKTVED (agricultural products).
As reported in the Telegram channel of the State Border Service of Ukraine on Saturday, the preliminary movement of trucks should begin at 8:00 on April 21.
Earlier it was reported that the movement of trucks at the checkpoints “Shegini-Medika” and “Krakowiec-Korczowa” on the Polish-Ukrainian border was resumed on Saturday morning after Polish farmers ended the protest action in front of them. The registration and passage of cargo vehicles across the border in the two directions is carried out as usual.
Polish authorities have agreed with farmers on subsidies per ton of grain and temporary closure of the border with Ukraine from April 1 for the transit of some agricultural products, polskieradio24.pl reported.
According to the newspaper, the document was signed by representatives of the protesting farmers, Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Seckerski and the ministry’s state secretary Michal Kolodziejczak.
The agreement envisages maintaining the current embargo on agricultural products from Ukraine, which has been in place since mid-September last year. It concerns in particular wheat, corn, wheat flour, rapeseed and sunflower.
In addition, the Minister of Agriculture must ask the Council of Ministers of the European Union to suspend the transit of these products through Polish territory as of April 1 this year.
Both sides in the signed document also consider it necessary to develop detailed rules for agri-food trade between Poland and Ukraine, but also note that the difficult situation in agriculture is the result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Farmers’ representatives in the agreement declare their government’s support for the changes to the Green Agreement. It is primarily about replacing the mandatory transfer to a voluntary ecosystem and simplifying other rules for farmers.
AUTHORITIES, BORDER, FARMERS, GRAIN, POLAND, transit products, UKRAINE
Polish protesters plan to resume blocking trucks in the direction of the checkpoint “Korchova-Krakovec” from March 13, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS) reports. “On March 13, protesters plan to resume blocking trucks in the direction of the checkpoint “Korchova-Krakovets”,” the State Border Service said in a message in the Telegram channel on Monday.
The message also states that from today from “9.00 protesters will not let trucks through the checkpoint “Ugrinov” in the direction of Poland. At the exit from Poland will be allowed 4 trucks every hour”. Earlier this was reported by the speaker of the state Border service Andrey Demchenko on the air of the national telethon.
“In the direction of checkpoints “Dorogusk-Yagodin”, “Zosin-Ustilug”, “Dolgobichiv-Ugrinov”, “Hrebene – Rava-Russkaya”, “Medica-Shegini” restriction of movement for cargo vehicles continues”, – noted in the message of the state Border service.
“The movement of passenger vehicles and buses in all directions is not limited”, – stated in the message.
As reported with reference to Demchenko, on the night of March 8-9 Polish farmers stopped blocking the direction through the checkpoint “Korchova-Krakovets”, and on it since then significantly increased the load, there also formed queues. “Over these last days we see the intensity of traffic exactly at this checkpoint… That is, the intensity there is quite high with the possibility of crossing the border in both directions. But, of course, and in this direction the queue remains: as of this morning it is about 600 trucks,” – said Demchenko.
