UCAB appealed to the government to restore state guarantees for compensation for damage to shipowners

The Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club Association appealed to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Prime Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Koretskyi.

The issue was the restoration of state guarantees of compensation for damage to shipowners in order to stabilize maritime exports, the UCAB report states.

The association noted that due to attacks on seaports and civilian vessels, grain exports by sea have actually stopped, as shipowners refuse to load ships. The existing instruments of military risk insurance and compensation for losses are insufficient to restore stable transportation.

“Given the critical importance of maritime exports for the Ukrainian economy, we consider it necessary to restore the mechanism of providing charterers, operators and owners of vessels (under Ukrainian and foreign flags) with state guarantees of compensation for damage caused as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation,” the appeal states.

The UCAB recalled that the relevant instrument was already used in 2023: Article 36 of the Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2023” provided for up to UAH 20 billion for this, and the mechanism was regulated by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated May 26, 2023 No. 548.

In view of the above, the UCAB called on the President and the Government:

• To allocate up to UAH 1 billion from the reserve fund of the state budget for 2026 to provide guarantees for compensation of damage to shipowners and operators of vessels.

• To provide for expenditures for these purposes in the draft Law of Ukraine “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2027” in the amount of up to UAH 20 billion.