Ukrainian Grain Association expresses its concern regarding the talks about “the desire of some populists in the government to set the export restrictions on Ukrainian sunflower oil amid the implementation of zero quotas on the oil export”, informed the press-service of the UGA.
The association considers the implementation of such restrictions will result in loss of about 3 bln USD of revenues (taking into account the volume of sunflower oil that will not be exported until the end of the current season due to the restrictions). Moreover, farmers may shift from sunflower seed cultivation to other crops that will cause significant deficit of sunflower seed for processing the next season. Therefore, the prices of both sunflower seed and oil may grow further, while the export volumes and revenues will decline.
“UGA is deeply concerned with such initiatives and ask not to repeat the mistakes of the preceding administrations. Unfortunately, we had negative attempts to implement export quotas in the past that resulted in corruption scandals, decline of liquidity of grains and oilseeds, decrease of production margin and lower export revenues. Moreover, it brought international scandals and nonfulfillment of contracts”, - the message says.
The association points out the absence of reasonable base for implementation of restrictions, quotas and licensing of agricultural export. Additionally, it points out the absence of deficit of sunflower oil on the domestic market. Ukraine consumes about 5-10% of the production volume of sunflower oil, the rest is exported that brings “significant currency revenues to the country and serves as a base for stable economy”.
