On August 29, 2019, during the first sitting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Tymofiy Mylovanov was appointed Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture. The proposal of merging the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food into a single agency was also voiced.

The merger aims to accelerate the implementation of key reforms such as: privatization of state-owned enterprises, introduction of the agricultural land market, the de-shadowing of agricultural markets and land relations, liberalization of labor relations - increasing the number of legal jobs, expanding access to international markets, reloading the professional training system, modernization of approaches to research and launch of innovation in the agricultural sector.

A detailed description of the reform will be set out in the Government's Program, which is to be submitted to Parliament within the timeframes determined by law. The Cabinet of Ministers is currently developing a priority map and action plan.

It is critical for the Ministry to synchronize the activities of all markets and to establish effective, transparent and clear rules of the game. The agrarian reform, in view of its complexity, requires strategic alignment with key changes in other sectors.

Deregulation and digitization are key tools in the fight against corruption in the areas of approbation, certification and permission activities related to access to the latest agricultural production methods in agrarian sector and access of agricultural products for Ukrainian and international consumers.

Privatization of state-owned enterprises means the elimination of inefficiencies in managing economic entities and direct losses of the state budget.

Rebooting the national statistics system will allow us to obtain clear figures on the indicators of the development of the industry and to formulate the forecast long-term guidelines and priorities of the state policy in each particular sphere.

“Indisputably, the merger of ministries is not only of bureaucratic but also of strategic nature. And in this strategic dimension, it is critical for us to hear key stakeholders. In view of this, we plan to hold a coordination meeting with representatives of the agricultural sector to identify problem issues and prospects. Establishing an effective dialogue is our challenge and opportunity”, Tymofiy Mylovanov said.

Tymofiy Mylovanov stressed that every effort would be made to prevent disruption of the agricultural life cycle.