Vsevolod S. Kozhemyako, AGROTRADE Group
- Name: Vsevolod S. Kozhemyako
- Position: Chief Executive Officer, AGROTRADE Group
Do you consider export quotas for corn cancellation to become the first successful step towards creating a competitive agricultural industry and agro market players’ interests protection?
Agro-industrial complex robust development as well as the country’s economic welfare benefits from the healthy competition in the market secured by well-functioning business environment, pursuing more active investments’ enrolment. Henceforth, due to the sufficient agro industry financing not only the services supply will grow but also the domestic consumers will gain guaranteed food security and prices cut.
We regard the dialog with the government initiated within the context of the quotas cancellation efforts as the step towards establishing transparent and effective state policy regulating not only the agro-arena players’ affairs but also the social responsibility of agro business as a whole.
Do you support the EBA lobbying efforts towards the free export of grain and oilseed products?
Honoured to be the co-founders of the very idea of the EBA Grain & Oilseed committee establishment, we are the active proponents of the EBA lobbying efforts. The core mission of the committee entirely coincides with our vision of the Ukrainian agricultural market prospects, including the free trade promoting and transparent export schemes setting up as the paramount goals.
Though we regret to witness the national agrarian conglomerates still being immature to consolidate the efforts in order to arrange a stable and effective cooperation with the authorities, we are truly optimistic regarding the quotas abolition as the first stepping stone in achieving the desired objective.
Are there potential risks and threats for the corn traders operating in Ukraine in connection with the current export policy being still unstable?
The significant part of the grain traders operating in the Ukrainian market represent multinational agricultural corporations, hence the export policy the Ukrainian officials stick to is beneficial for neither Ukrainian economy nor the overall country’s international image.
However the most painful drawback of such poorly targeted export policy will affect the local grain producers and the state export revenues respectively. As the representatives of the grain producers community we are fearful of the risks the Ukrainain agrarian industry is subject to.
How do you foresee the results of VAT-refund period expiration (on July 1st, 2011) for grain traders, according to the new Tax Code?
The new Tax Code foresees the solid changes for VAT taxation of grain and oilseeds planned, namely the VAT would no longer be charged upon transactions of wheat, barley, rye, rapeseed, sunflower and buckwheat (with an exception for the first sale of grains, seed-oil and flour trade).
We treat the innovations as the measures simplifying the financial planning for the grain traders and the proposed taxation scheme will stimulate the mechanism of farm produce direct selling.
