On Tuesday, May 31, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman held a meeting on issues concerning further development of agriculture with representatives of agricultural business.

"I want to emphasize the Government’s total support, understanding of the need to develop the agricultural sector, including the creation of conditions ensuring not just exporting of our agricultural products as raw materials but more advanced processing, creating added value in Ukraine, strengthening opportunities of our domestic market and, indeed, maintaining the export of our products," said Volodymyr Groysman, opening the meeting.

The Government supports the development of targeted support for small farms up to 500 hectares, what was agreed at the previous meeting of Volodymyr Groysman with representatives of the agricultural sector during his presidency in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and develops the necessary regulatory framework. "Our position remains unchanged: we want to support farming in Ukraine," he said.

The participants stressed the need for the withdrawal of domestic farmers "out of the shadows," underpinned by the introduction of transparent and fair system of taxation. They noted the need to support small farms, in particular by encouraging cooperatives as well as the livestock industry that provides processing and value adding in the country.

The representatives of the agricultural business expressed interest in supporting institutions of vocational education in order to provide the quality of training.

The Prime Minister assured the representatives of the agricultural sector in his support. "I'm interested in development of the agricultural sector. I am interested in expanding your product range and advanced processing of raw materials. I am interested in competitiveness of your products and ready to support small producers through co-operation. I am interested in tax system effectiveness in terms of filling the budget," he emphasized.

The parties agreed to resume the activities of the working group for producing proposals to address key issues of the industry. The group will be headed by Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Taras Kutovyi.