Agrarians against liquidation of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy

The director of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Forum, Maria Didukh, emphasized that public associations of the agricultural sector of Ukraine are extremely concerned about the issue announced in the mass media regarding the agreement at the meeting with the President of the new concept of the construction of the Cabinet of Ministers. According to her, it is about the unification of the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food and the creation of a single central body of executive power - the Ministry of Economic Development of Ukraine.

«In the last month, the idea of reforming the Government and uniting individual ministries has been actively discussed. Paradoxically, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy is again thinking of merging with the Ministry of Economy. And although we already have this experience «behind our shoulders», currently we continue to think «to be or not to be» a separate body of executive power, which is responsible for the formation and implementation of the agrarian policy of Ukraine. Today, 27 leading agrarian associations sent an open appeal to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal regarding the impracticality of such a measure. We hope the agrarian public will be heard», Maria Didukh stressed.

According to agrarians, the liquidation of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine «will lead to negative consequences both in the agri-food sector and the economy of the state as a whole, as well as cause concern of foreign partners and endanger the establishment of export supplies of Ukrainian food to countries that need it».

It should be noted that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the importance of the agricultural sector of Ukraine has increased significantly, because after the complete stop of exports and the disruption of logistics chains, there was a significant increase in food prices and caused a wave of «hunger protests» in a number of countries. At the same time, the role of Ukraine as an agrarian state was noted by leading world leaders and organizations that contributed to the signing and implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which unblocked the export of Ukrainian food in wartime conditions.

Therefore, according to agrarians, it is a logical and extremely important fact for business and the public community that «the existence of a specialized body of state power at the central level, which will be responsible for the formation of agrarian policy, determining the directions of the restoration of the agro-food sector, ensuring the volume of agricultural production in wartime and establishing supply chains agricultural products to world markets».

At the same time, agrarians understand the need to optimize the activities of government structures, because the economy of Ukraine is in an extremely difficult situation, and spending in 2023 on the country's defense capabilities is more than 44% of the budget. However, the reform of the central executive bodies carried out in 2019 (when the Ministry of Agrarian Policy was joined to the Ministry of Economy) proved the inexpediency of liquidating the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, whose activity was restored already in 1.5 years, albeit with limited functionality.

Agrarians also recognize that the Ministry needs structural restructuring and revision of functional duties. But they emphasize the necessity and importance of the existence of a separate specialized body of state power at the national level, which will be responsible for guaranteeing food security and ensuring the effective functioning of the agricultural sector, especially in war and post-war times.