Ensuring the financial resilience of agricultural producers, expanding lending opportunities, state guarantees, the shortage of capacity for storing the harvest, and legislative support for the industry became the key topics of the 10th regional farmers' forum, initiated by the Ukrainian Agri Council in Lviv on September 8.

The event took place with the participation of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, people's deputies of Ukraine, the leadership of the Lviv RMA and the Lviv Regional Council, and agricultural producers.

The participants discussed problems that require urgent solutions due to the actual stoppage of maritime exports and the deterioration of the financial situation of agricultural enterprises.

The Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Taras Vysotskyi, noted that at present there are no prospects for a quick restoration of agricultural product exports through the sea ports, so the state is working on expanding alternative logistics and financial instruments for farmers.

"We are expanding alternative routes to the maximum: in September, exports could potentially rise to 2 million tonnes, but this is only about 40% of the required monthly volume. Under such conditions, one of the priority tasks is to ensure additional capacity for storing products — the need may amount to up to 10 million tonnes. At the same time, it is necessary to create conditions so that farmers can continue their current operational activity. First of all, this concerns the possibility of attracting affordable and effective lending. Separately, we are working with state banks on expanding the possibilities of using grain as collateral. Work on instruments to support the agricultural sector is continuing," Taras Vysotskyi emphasized.

The export problem is already being directly transformed into a liquidity problem for agricultural enterprises. Due to more expensive alternative logistics and the impossibility of selling a significant part of the harvest, farms are losing the working capital needed to continue production.

"Today, the harvest and products exist, but due to alternative logistics that is more expensive by at least 50 dollars per tonne, farmers have scarce working capital. Farms need to pay wages, buy agrochemicals, and service loans that were supposed to be repaid through the sale of the current harvest — but a mass cash gap is arising. At the same time, the unsold harvest needs to be stored, and already by November Ukraine may lack capacity for storing 8–11 million tonnes of products, while the harvesting of corn still lies ahead. If the financial resilience of agricultural producers is not ensured, the next production cycle is put at risk. Added to this is the personnel problem, because due to the cash gap it is more difficult for farms to meet the wage criterion for confirming criticality and to reserve key workers. So a paradoxical situation may arise — exports will resume, a price will appear, but there will be no one to gather the harvest," emphasized Olesia Shakalo-Olshanetska, a farmer and member of the UAC board.

Under conditions of a shortage of working capital and limited possibilities for bank lending, one of the effective mechanisms for supporting the next sowing should become state guarantees. The UAC believes that the corresponding funds need to be provided for already during the current budget process.

"The issue of providing state guarantees is extremely important, since under the current conditions banks cannot provide farmers with the necessary volume of lending. According to our calculations, by the beginning of next year the agricultural sector will lack about UAH 250 billion for conducting the field campaign. This year, farmers did not receive sufficient funds from the sale of the harvest, through which the next sowing is traditionally financed. Therefore, it is necessary to provide for state guarantees in the budget that will ensure farmers' access to lending," believes Mykhailo Sokolov, Deputy Chairman of the UAC and director of the Smart Country analytical center.

A separate block of the forum was dedicated to the role of parliament in ensuring the competitiveness and development of the agricultural sector. The people's deputies of Ukraine Nataliia Pipa, Yevhen Petruniak, Halyna Vasylchenko, Sofiia Fedyna, and Oleh Syniutka took part in the discussion.

Among the legislative issues considered were state portfolio guarantees for lending to the agricultural sector, the abolition of the export duty on soybeans and rapeseed and the return to agricultural producers of previously paid duty, support for relocated enterprises and enterprises in territories of active hostilities, changes to the Tax Code to support the agricultural sector under conditions of martial law, a reduction in the excise tax rate on diesel fuel used by agricultural producers, as well as a legal mechanism for placing fortification structures.

An important result of the discussion was the readiness of people's deputies to support the initiatives being developed by the agricultural community, in particular the corresponding draft laws. This makes it possible to translate the problematic issues raised by agricultural producers into the plane of concrete legislative solutions. Work on them will continue after the forum as well.

"This is already the tenth regional farmers' forum initiated by the UAC, and for us it is fundamentally important that such meetings end with concrete decisions. Following the forum, a working group with the participation of people's deputies will continue its work, where we will develop proposals on the most acute issues for producers. We call on farmers to actively submit their proposals," noted the Deputy Chairman of the UAC, Denys Marchuk.

The UAC emphasizes that, under conditions of limited exports, the priority task is not only to preserve current production, but also to provide farmers with resources for the next production cycle. That is precisely why the further joint work of agricultural producers, the government, and parliament should be aimed at the swiftest possible implementation of the financial and legislative mechanisms necessary fosr the table operation of the agricultural sector.