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.
“Global soybean supply and demand forecasts for 2025/26 call for increased supply, increased processing, reduced exports, and increased ending stocks. (…) The biggest surprise came from Ukraine, where production was sharply increased by 1 million tons to 7.6 million tons. This is not only higher than the previous forecast, but also exceeds last season’s record (7 million tons).Global soybean production has been increased due to an increase in the production forecast for Ukraine based on government data on the progress of sowing,” the report notes.
The forecast for global soybean production in 2025/26 MY has been increased by 0.86 million tons to 427.7 million tons, exports have been reduced by 0.8 million tons to 187.6 million tons, and final global soybean stocks have been increased by 0.77 million tons to 126.07 million tons.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says that 5.6 million hectares of spring cereals and legumes and 7.7 million hectares of industrial crops have been sown in Ukraine.
“Farmers are completing the fourth spring sowing during a full-scale war. 5.6 million hectares of spring grains and legumes have been sown. We have reached last year’s level. The highest sowing rates are in the Poltava, Chernihiv, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, and Sumy regions,” Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.
According to him, a distinctive feature of this season is an increase in the area under spring wheat, which currently stands at almost 220,000 hectares, due to demand from processing companies and exporters.
“In addition, 7.7 million hectares have been sown with industrial crops, mainly sunflowers (4.9 million hectares) and soybeans (2.3 million hectares),” the prime minister said.
Shmyhal stressed that the total area sown is sufficient to meet domestic food needs and develop export potential.
Agrotrade will allocate more than 12,000 hectares for soybeans in the 2025 season. Sowing has already been completed in the Kharkiv region and is ongoing in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
“We plan to complete the main stage of soybean sowing by Monday. In some northern regions, work will continue throughout next week. Soybeans are one of the company’s staple crops, so we are working within a proven system: no changes in approaches, technologies, or crop structure,” said Oleksandr Ovsyanyk, director of the agro-industrial department at Agrotrade.
As reported, the production structure of the agricultural holding in 2025 will be as follows: winter wheat 25.2% of the sown area, corn 24.32%, soybeans 23.58%, sunflowers 17.84%, winter rapeseed 7.4%, mustard 1.02%, industrial hemp 0.56%, etc.
The Agrotrade Group is a vertically integrated holding company covering the entire agricultural cycle (production, processing, storage, and trade of agricultural products). It cultivates over 70,000 hectares of land in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava, and Kharkiv regions. Its main crops are sunflower, corn, winter wheat, soybeans, and rapeseed. It has its own network of elevators with a total storage capacity of 570,000 tons.
The group also produces hybrid seeds of corn, sunflower, barley, and winter wheat. In 2014, a seed plant with a capacity of 20,000 tons of seeds per year was built on the basis of the Kolos seed farm (Kharkiv region). In 2018, Agrotrade launched its own brand, Agroseeds.
The founder of Agrotrade is Vsevolod Kozhemyako.
One of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, JV Nibulon LLC, has started the spring crops sowing campaign, for which it will allocate 36 thou hectares, which corresponds to the area under spring crops last year – 37 thou hectares, the press service of the agricultural holding reported on Facebook.
According to the report, corn will be Nibulon’s flagship crop in the 2025 season, just like last year. In addition, the area under soybeans will be doubled and the area under sunflower will be halved. This is due to the price expectations for this year’s grain crops and the forecast of a better economic result.
“We are using seeds sparingly, with seeding rates of 55-70 thou/ha for corn, 350-500 thou/ha for soybeans, and 45 thou/ha for sunflower (Mykolaiv region). In particular, 800 tons of soybean seeds of our own production have been laid and prepared for sowing,” the agroholding said.
Sunflower sowing, which is starting earlier than planned due to the rapid rise in temperatures and soil moisture deficit, has started in the Mykolaiv cluster. After April 12, the company plans to start sowing corn in Cherkasy, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytsky regions. Given favorable conditions, Nibulon’s farmers expect to complete the sowing campaign by mid-May, as they have the technical capability to sow 2-2.5 thousand hectares per productive day.
Oleg Veselov, Director of Agricultural Production at Nibulon Oleg Veselov noted that there is not enough moisture in the soil in the regions of the agricultural holding’s presence, but there is hope for April and May precipitation, so the company expects the gross harvest of spring crops to be 180 thousand tons of corn, 25 thousand tons of soybeans, and 70 thousand tons of sunflower.
Nibulon added that winter crops in Mykolaiv region are in good and satisfactory condition.
Nibulon JV LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and complexes for receiving crops, a one-time storage capacity of 2.25 million tons of agricultural products, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugs), and owned the Mykolaiv Shipyard.
“Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries. In 2021, the grain trader exported the highest ever 5.64 mln tons of agricultural products and supplied record volumes to foreign markets in August – 0.7 mln tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 mln tons, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 mln tons.
Currently, the grain trader is operating at 32% of capacity, has set up a special unit to clear agricultural land of mines and had to move its headquarters from Mykolaiv to Kyiv.
In 2025, Agrotrade Agroholding will plant 24.32% of its acreage under corn, given its profitability in 2024, and refused to grow spring wheat, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
“Last season, favorable weather conditions allowed us to minimize the cost of corn processing. This year, we expect high profitability of the crop again, so we have increased the area under its sowing. Traditionally, we allocate significant areas for soybeans, as they show consistently high profitability. At the same time, this year we refused to plant spring wheat, as we sowed enough winter wheat, so we focused on other crops,” said Oleksandr Ovsyanyk, Director of Agrotrade’s Agricultural Department.
In 2025, the agroholding allocated 25.2% of its acreage for winter wheat, 24.32% for corn, 23.58% for soybeans, 17.84% for sunflower, 7.4% for winter rapeseed, 1.02% for mustard, 0.56% for industrial hemp, etc.
“We continue to work to optimize the structure of crops for sustainable development and efficient use of the land bank,” the agricultural holding assured.
Agrotrade Group is a vertically integrated holding company with a full agro-industrial cycle (production, processing, storage and trade of agricultural products). It cultivates over 70 thousand hectares of land in Chernihiv, Sumy, Poltava and Kharkiv regions. The company’s main crops are sunflower, corn, winter wheat, soybeans and rapeseed. It has its own network of elevators with a one-time storage capacity of 570 thousand tons.
The group also produces hybrid seeds of corn and sunflower, barley, and winter wheat. In 2014, a seed plant with a capacity of 20 thousand tons of seeds per year was built on the basis of Kolos seed farm (Kharkiv region). In 2018, Agrotrade launched its own brand Agroseeds on the market.
The founder of Agrotrade is Vsevolod Kozhemiako.
