The Government of Ukraine has expanded the terms of state grants under the program “eWork” for the development of horticulture, in particular, increased compensation for the cost of vineyard planting projects from 225 thousand UAH to 330 thousand UAH per 1 hectare of plantings, reported the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food on Wednesday.
It is indicated that the relevant changes to the Cabinet of Ministers’ resolution of June 21, 2022 № 738 were made by the resolution № 241 on the initiative of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
It is noted that the agreed document proposes to change the conditions of planting and arrangement of planting on the land plot or on adjacent plots.
According to the new norms, grants will be provided not only for planting not more than 25 hectares of plantations with the installation of irrigation systems and water intake, but also for the arrangement of plantations on the land plot or on adjacent land plots, the total area of which is from 1 to 25 hectares.
The resolution also allows location between land plots of farm tracks, runs, field protective forest strips and other protective plantings, boundaries (rivers, streams, canals, forest strips, vegetation strips, trees, paths, ravines, gullies, ravines, wetlands).
According to the adopted document, at the same time the Cabinet of Ministers obliged grant recipients to attach scanned copies of the project of construction of a modular greenhouse with cost estimates, which must be signed by the project developer and irrigation project (in the absence of a corresponding section with calculations in the project of construction of a modular greenhouse) with indication of water intake sources (previously, project estimates and indication of water intake sources were not required) when registering an application on the portal “Dia”.
The government grant program “eWork” has been in effect since July 1, 2022 and provides support for small and medium-sized businesses. Among its advantages is the opportunity for everyone to create or develop their own business in the areas of “Own Business”, “Own Garden”, “Own Greenhouse”, and “New Level”.
In 2023, 131 orders were issued for grants for the development of horticulture, berry growing, viticulture (UAH 432.8 million) and greenhouse farming (UAH 159.4 million). It is expected to create about 15 thousand jobs.
Grants are provided in the amount of no more than 70% of the project cost and no more than UAH 10 million. The grant recipient must finance with its own or credit funds at least 30% of the project cost. A mandatory condition is employment of a certain number of workers: for orchards – from 5 to 10 permanent and 125-425 seasonal workers depending on the name of plantings, for greenhouses – at least 4 permanent and 10 seasonal workers per 1 hectare.
Funding for agro-producers under the government’s eWork program during 2024-2025 is provided through World Bank support under the “Emergency Inclusive Support for Ukraine’s Agricultural Recovery (ARISE) Emergency Project”.
The Government of Ukraine has canceled the ban on the termination of housing and communal services to the population in case of non-payment or incomplete payment, as well as the ban on the accrual and collection of fines and penalties, inflationary charges on debts for non-payment of such services, introduced at the beginning of the full-scale aggression.
According to the Cabinet of Ministers’ Decision No. 1405 of December 29, 2023, published on the government’s website, such moratorium is maintained only for the territories where hostilities are taking place according to the list of the Ministry of Reintegration.
In addition, in the rules for the provision of housing and communal services, this decree introduced a norm on the need to provide utility providers with a statement and documentary evidence in electronic or paper form of the temporary absence in the residential premises of the consumer and other persons for more than 30 calendar days. It is specified that this may be certificates from the place of temporary residence, work, treatment, education, military service (including those received in a foreign country), serving a sentence, traveling abroad.
It is also established that such confirmation must be updated every six months.
As reported, the government, by its decision of March 5, 2022, introduced a ban on the termination of housing and communal services to the population in case of non-payment or underpayment, as well as a ban on the accrual and collection of fines and penalties. At that time, its term was set until the termination or cancellation of martial law in Ukraine and it was applied from the first day of the invasion of the Russian Federation – from February 24, 2022.
