Rada postpones cancellation of VAT refunds for rapeseed, soybeans exports

Some 274 lawmakers on December 21 voted for this decision, with a required minimum of 226 votes, to eliminate inconsistencies in previously adopted law No. 6776-d on amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine.

In addition, the Rada decided to maintain the VAT refund for sunflower seeds exports, although law No. 6776-d, adopted on December 7, provided that it would be abolished from March 1, 2018.

Read alsoUkraine's Cabinet doesn't support cancellation of VAT refund for oilseeds exportsEarlier, Deputy Chairman of the Parliament Committee on Agrarian Policy and Land Relations Oleksandr Bakumenko wrote on Facebook that the MPs at a meeting of the Parliament Tax Committee managed to reach a compromise in matters of VAT refunds for oilseeds exports. At the same time, he expressed his opinion that the abolition of VAT refunds for soybean exports should be postponed for a year and a half.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Verkhovna Rada on December 7 voted to abolish VAT refunds for oilseeds exports (soybeans, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds) from March 1, 2018, which angered Ukrainian farmers.

According to the major agrarian associations, the relevant initiative was proposed in the interests of large oligarchic companies that own the majority of oil extraction plants, since oilseed producers would have to reduce the purchase prices of these crops, while processors would buy them at a reduced price. According to experts' estimates, as a result of the abolition of VAT refunds for oilseeds exports, the Ukrainian farmers' losses may amount to UAH 10-UAH 16 billion (US$358.9-$572.3 million) per year.

Ukrainian farmers on December 18 blocked highways in Cherkasy, Rivne and Khmelnytsky regions, protesting against the parliament decision to abolish VAT refunds for oilseeds exports.

On the same day, the presidential administration reported that the president shared the agrarians' concern over the cancellation of VAT refunds for oilseeds exports. The presidential press service noted that such a decision by the parliament contradicted Ukraine's international obligations, undertaken when joining the World Trade Organization and signing the Association Agreement with the European Union.