Farmers are asking for an increase in the duty on sunflower export

The representatives of the oil and fat industry are asking the Ministry of Economy to increase the duty on the export of sunflower seeds to 10% from 3.5%.

The increase in the duty will allow sunflower to be processed domestically into high-margin oil, especially in the conditions of a reduction in the oilseed crop due to russian military aggression. The proposal to create a working group between the ministry and the specialized association “Ukroliyaprom” to solve the relevant issue was expressed by Stanislav Tarshin, a beneficiary of the “GradOlia” company, writes “Interfax-Ukraine”.‎

“We understand that the gross harvest of sunflower this year will be 30% less compared to last year, not 16 million tons, but 9-10 million tons. You can assume that 1.7 million tons have already been exported since the beginning of the war, and no less will be exported in the future. We will again be left without jobs, without receiving currency and other things,” Stanislav Tarshin emphasized.

He stressed that the country’s oil and fat industry may face a shortage of raw materials for the production of sunflower oil due to a smaller sunflower crop in Ukraine in 2022 due to the russian invasion and temporary occupation of part of its territory. This can lead to underutilization of enterprises in the industry, a reduction in foreign currency income from the sale of oil abroad, as well as the closure of enterprises and an increase in unemployment in the country.

In order to prevent such a development, Tarshin proposed setting a duty on the export of sunflower seeds from the country in the amount of 10% instead of the current 3.5%.

In addition, the representative of “Ukroliyaprom” urged the Minister of Economy to stimulate the deep processing of sunflower oil in Ukraine, which includes its purification and packaging before sale abroad.

“We should reduce the export of crude sunflower oil (in favor of refined oil). It seems to many that if we export not sunflower, but crude oil, then this is the final product. This is a big mistake – such oil is a raw material that is later processed by many countries of the world. We export 6-6.5 million tons every year, and only 0.5 million tons are consumed in the country,” Tarshin clarified.

According to him, in order to increase the deep processing of sunflower oil by 50% of the current level, it is necessary to build about 20 enterprises of this profile in Ukraine, this will additionally create tens of thousands of jobs in the country.