Today, June 4, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv took part in the opening of the 31st International Exhibition for Agriculture, Agricultural Machinery, Livestock , Alternative Energy and Organic Agriculture AGRO 2019, during which he greeted the participants and guests.

Stepan Kubiv noted that in 2018 the volume of 70 million tons of crop was a record high. Ukraine produces agricultural products to the tune of UAH 850 billion and exported to the tune of $18.6 billion in 2018 alone. At that, the share of Ukrainian products in the European markets increased up to 33.5 percent.

"Starting from 2017, the Government, on the initiative of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, launched a unique state support program for agricultural machinery producers. This Program allows Ukrainian producers to receive partial compensation for the cost of their products, thereby making its final cost more attractive for Ukrainian farmers", said the First Deputy Prime Minister.

Stepan Kubiv emphasized that two years before only 40 enterprises had participated in the Program - now their number is 163. At the beginning they offered 800 items of equipment - now there are almost 11,400, which is almost 15 times more and those are produced by 200 factories. In 2018 alone 7,043 agrarian enterprises benefited from the Program, having purchased 17,182 units of Ukrainian machinery and equipment. For this technique, buyers paid UAH 4.4 billion and received UAH 912.9 million of compensation from the State.

"Localization of the production of such equipment is gradually increasing from 35 to 55%, and this does not stop the agrarians from expanding the range and the names of their products. As a result, we have created more than 5,000 new jobs during 2018 alone, and taxes to the tune of UAH 1.6 billion were transferred to the budget. We are currently working on extending the possibilities of the Program to further encourage the production of Ukrainian agricultural machinery", said Stepan Kubiv.

Background

The AGRO 2019 exhibition is the largest agriculture exhibition in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, serving as an effective platform for improving production, introducing innovations, presentations of innovative solutions in all areas of the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex, a business event that opened up opportunities for cooperation with countries-leaders of the world agrarian sector, as well as a unique opportunity for a dialogue between private business and the State, associations and foreign representatives.