Agricultural production cost in Ukraine shrinks by 4.1% in Jan-Sept

Agricultural production expenses in Ukraine in January-September 2020 shrank by 4.1% year-over-year (y-o-y).

At the same time, crop production costs fell by 6.2%, while those of livestock production declined by 1.3%, according to the State Statistics Service.

Read alsoEconomy ministry plans to amend procedure for supporting agrarian sectorCosts of material and technical resources of industrial origin used in agricultural production decreased by 10.3% in the nine months of 2020 y-o-y.

Expenses for agricultural production in 2019

Costs of agricultural production in Ukraine in 2019 dropped by 0.6% from 2018.

Funds distribution

• In November 2019, the then Ukrainian Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture Tymofiy Mylovanov announced that Ukrainians would be able to take loans in hryvnias, Ukraine's national currency, for the farmland purchase at 3-5% after land market legislation is adopted.
• On January 30, 2020, Deputy Economy Minister Taras Vysotskyi said that the state program to reduce the cost of loans for farmers in 2020 with a budget of UAH 1.2 billion (US$42 million) would work in three directions, one of which will be compensation of interest on loans for farmland acquisition.
• In February 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers created a Partial Loan Guarantee Fund in Agriculture, which was supposed to simplify for smaller farmers with no credit history the procedure for obtaining loans.
• In June, the ministry approved a new disbursement worth UAH 104.5 million (US$3.7 million) to domestic agricultural producers who purchased Ukraine-made machinery and equipment in December 2019 and January-May 2020.
• The economy ministry on August 3 approved the allocation of UAH 124.9 million (US$4.4 million) for compensations to agricultural businesses for interest paid on loans for January-June 2020.
• On August 6, 2020, the ministry approved the transfer of UAH 47 million (US$1.6 million) in compensation to agricultural producers for the purchase of domestic machinery and equipment.
• As of November 2, 2020, Ukrainian farmers received almost UAH 1 billion (US$35 million) in subsidies for purchases of agricultural machinery.