Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman says that the programs of financial assistance for the Ukrainian agricultural businesses as provided for in the draft state budget for 2017 are fully resourced and can be implemented.
”A total of UAH 5.5 billion [earmarked to support farmers] makes up 1% of gross agricultural production volume. This means that UAH 5.5 billion will be raised and funded with real resources,” Groysman said while reporting in the parliament.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers has decided that from 2017, the national budget should envisage expenses to support agribusiness in the amount of no less than 1% of gross agricultural output. In 2015, the volume of gross agricultural output amounted to over UAH 544 billion (in current prices).
The resumption of a direct state support of the agricultural sector aims at compensating potential losses of farmers due to the abolition of the preferential VAT treatment from January 1, 2017.
The Ukrainian Agrarian Policy Ministry expects to get additional UAH 450 million in state support for the agricultural sector in the current year. However, the funds will be available in the spring of 2017, according to Agrarian Minister Taras Kutovyi.
