On September 15, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine signed a memorandum of cooperation with one of the world’s largest databases, AgroChart, containing information on prices and statistics of agricultural markets since 1970.
As reported on the agency’s website on Friday, the signing of the document will provide the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex with up-to-date information on the Ukrainian market situation, assessment of export opportunities and tracking changes affecting the export and import of Ukrainian agricultural products.
“Today, more than ever, it is important to provide our farmers with reliable information about the functioning of the markets for grain, oilseeds and feed ingredients, up-to-date analytics of export supply and import demand by country, prices, etc. All this will help them make informed decisions,” – the words of the Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization Denis Bashlyk are quoted in the message.
He said that in the future it is possible to integrate AgroChart databases with the State Agrarian Register (SAR), but this will not happen in the near future.
2,740 farmers from Ukraine have already applied for participation in the program financed by the budgetary support of the European Union through the State Agrarian Register (SAR), according to the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on Friday.
Farmers with a land bank of 1 to 120 hectares (with payment of up to 3.1 thousand UAH/ha), and owners of 3 to 100 cows (with payment of up to 5, 3 thousand UAH/head).
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, a total of 2,299 applications were submitted for payments in the first direction, and 437 in the second.
The agency recalled that the acceptance of applications for assistance in the two above areas will last until November 15, 2022.
At the same time, only agricultural producers registered in the GAR and meeting its criteria can be participants in the program. Currently, 11,000 users have already registered with the GAR, who can access information about existing state support programs in real time and apply for it online.
As reported, GAR is an automated electronic system available to all agricultural producers, regardless of the form of management. With the help of the registry, it is planned to provide public services, simplify access to bank financing and loan guarantee programs, as well as introduce targeted government support programs and evaluate their effectiveness.
The project is being implemented in coordination with the State Geocadastre, the Ministry of Justice and with the assistance of the World Bank and EU project “Support for transparent land management in Ukraine”, as well as the USAID Agricultural and Rural Development Program.
In the last three years, the EU has been supporting the introduction of GAR in Ukraine. With technical and financial assistance from the EU, the government has developed the software and carried out two pilot implementations ahead of a nationwide launch in August 2022.
Farmers of Odesa region had already harvested almost 2 million tonnes of grain, Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for Odesa regional military administration, said.
“We have one more front, we should not forget about it, and it is also one of the main ones – this is the agrarian front. Today, our grain growers have already harvested almost 2 million tonnes [of grain]. The northern parts of Odesa region have joined the harvest. We understand that if there is grain [and there will be!], there is flour. And Odesa region and other regions of our state, and, accordingly, entire Ukraine will have this resource,” he said at a briefing at the Ukraine Media Center on Monday.
At the same time, Bratchuk is convinced that the grain reserves in Odesa region will be sufficient for Ukraine to be able to export it to other countries.
In 2022, Ukrainian agricultural producers attracted 26,620 loans totaling UAH 47.74 million under the Affordable Loans 5–7–9 program, the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported on Thursday.
The report clarifies that from mid-March to May 31, 2022, a special program was in place for preferential lending for sowing crops, under which farmers could raise up to UAH 60 million at 0% per annum, and 80% was guaranteed by the state. In total, during the period of its work, agricultural entrepreneurs received UAH 38.51 billion in loans. Since June 1, applications for lending to the agricultural sector have been accepted within the framework of the usual 5-7-9 program.
With its help, small and medium-sized agricultural entrepreneurs receive loans for the purchase of fixed assets and reimbursement of any expenses associated with the implementation of agricultural activities. The program is also aimed at creating jobs in enterprises.
In total, for the period June 1-July 21, Ukrainian banks allocated UAH 9.19 billion to 8.53 thousand agrarians and farmers, including UAH 443.8 thousand under the portfolio guarantee program.
The leaders in terms of lending for this period were Kyiv – UAH 1.540 billion, Khmelnytsky – UAH 1 billion, Kirovohrad – UAH 0.66 billion, Vinnitsa and Poltava – UAH 0.61 billion each.
The largest lending volumes for the specified period came from: Raiffeisen Bank – UAH 3.29 billion, Oschadbank – UAH 1.71 billion, PrivatBank – UAH 1.18 billion, Ukrgasbank – UAH 0.91 billion, Ukreximbank – UAH 0.61 billion.
“The government and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy are well aware of how important it is for farmers to receive preferential loans during the war. Therefore, we are working on launching new credit lines for farmers, and we also expect that in the near future the conditions for paying the body of the loan on preferential lending will be extended from 6 to 12 months,” the ministry quotes its first deputy minister, Taras Vysotsky.
Ukrainian banking institutions from the middle of March to May 25, under the government program to support the sowing season 2022, provided loans to farmers for a total of UAH 31.5 billion, including loans and portfolio guarantees for UAH 3.4 billion.
According to the data published on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, 80% (UAH 20.3 billion) of loans provided were portfolio guarantees, while a total of 13,060 agricultural producers received access to financing (last week it was 1,740).
Most loans for the sowing season were attracted by farmers of Kirovohrad (UAH 4.91 billion), Kyiv (UAH 3.37 billion), Vinnytsia (UAH 2.92 billion), Dnipropetrovsk (UAH 2.52 billion) and Odesa regions (UAH 2.48 billion).
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, loans up to UAH 60 million as part of the support for the 2022 sowing season are issued at 0% per annum (under the government financial support program Affordable Loans 5-7-9%). The term of such lending is up to six months, and after its completion, the interest rate for borrowers will be 5% per annum. Such financing can be used by farmers who fall under the definition of an agricultural producer.
Prime Minister Denys Shmygal asks Denmark to consider the possibility of supplying Ukraine with raw materials needed for farmers and oil products.
“I thanked for the decision to take part in the restoration of the city of Nikolaev together with other international partners. Also, in the coming days, as Prime Minister Matte Frederiksen promised, Ukraine will receive equipment and machinery that will help in the restoration of the liberated cities,” Shmyhal wrote on the Telegram channel following a meeting with Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofodom.
According to him, the parties discussed the supply of military equipment, the tightening of sanctions against Russia and the rejection of Russian energy resources.
“I touched upon the issue of diversifying gas supply sources. I made a proposal to consider the possibility of supplying Ukraine with raw materials needed for farmers and oil products, since the enemy is purposefully trying to disrupt the sowing season and cause a shortage of fuel,” the prime minister wrote.
Among other things, Shmygal thanked Denmark for its strong political and financial support.
“We also count on Ukraine’s support in acquiring the status of a candidate for EU membership and on the approval decision of the European Commission to suspend import duties on all Ukrainian exports for a year,” he added.
