Grain traders in Ukraine have to reduce purchase prices UAH 200-250 (USD 1/UAH 7.925) due to the huge VAT debts owed them by the government of Ukraine for months, Leonid Kozachenko, president of the Ukrainian Agricultural Confederation (UAC) stated on Monday.
"Agriculture's share of Ukraine's exports has reached 25% and at the same time 56% of total VAT debts have not been returned to us in cash by the government. No single business sector should receive payment for debts in the form of commodities - by grain, spare parts, garments, metallurgists and chemists have no such possibility. It is distortion of a process of the debt return," Kozachenko noted.
It takes political will to “automatize” the VAT refund. Also, it takes insignificant, but meaningful, changes in VAT administering which are to “strike the trump cards” from the hands of those who “dally” over refund referring to the interests of the state – deems Sergei Stoianov, Director General, Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation
This country has deviated too far away from the path of civilized countries. We already got used to various disgraceful practices surrounding our daily life. However notorious they might be, our “ways” and logics of our actions, our administering, our judicial proceedings, our daily life (read: “communal economy”) and many-many other aspects of our itsy-bitsy life are not understandable either to an ordinary foreigner, or to “weather-beaten” top-managers of transnational companies with their subsidiaries in many countries of the World.
Ukraine will increase the planted area for corn, soy and beet in this year's harvest, while the sunflower and barley planted area will be smaller, the agriculture ministry said Wednesday.
As UAC predicted earlier, the price of sugar in Ukraine stopped growing and even began to decline. From the beginning of the year, the wholesale prices fell to UAH 7000 per ton. This trend was caused by several factors. Lack of funds for the planting season was the main reason of decreade in the price of sugar, as it forced farmers to sell their own stocks of sugar, which they held in anticipation of further price increases. Also, sugar prices on the world trading floors plummeted from a peak of $755/MT in late Janaury to $504/MT on March 31, 2010, which has significantly told on Ukrainian domestic prices.
For some time past, the world population is more and more facing food problems.
To date, a period of reconsideration regarding GM crops growing is taking place, both globally and Ukraine-wide. This in the same manner relates to production of feed for livestock and food for human consumption.
The VAT-refunding issue has driven many up the wall in Ukraine. This concerns both a number of branches of the national economy and some business entities. What worries me is the agricultural sector. The very sector of Ukrainian economy that, for the past two years on the row, has been showing a positive trend in output growth, earning hard currencies for the coffers, as well as carrying half-Ukraine on its broad shoulders.