Ukraine's oilseed and fat industry continues to operate under severe logistical challenges caused by a wave of attacks and the need to comply with security protocols. Some vegetable oil plants are forced to temporarily suspend operations, creating a short-term break in raw material processing. Against this backdrop, the Ukroliyaprom association made a public statement urging against using the temporary pause in enterprise operations as an argument for abolishing export duties on sunflower seeds, soybeans, and rapeseed. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the text of the association's statement.
Warning Against Lobbying Initiatives
Ukroliyaprom explicitly pointed out attempts by certain lobbying groups to use the current situation as a pretext for revising export regulations. "We see attempts by certain lobbyists to use the temporary pause in factory operations as an argument for abolishing export duties on oilseeds — both soybeans and rapeseed, as well as sunflower seeds. We consider such proposals harmful to the economy," the association's statement reads. Stepan Kapshuk, General Director of Ukroliyaprom, stressed that the shutdown of some plants is a forced security measure, not a systemic industry crisis, and enterprises will return to their normal operating mode once the situation stabilizes.
The Role of Export Duties in Shaping the Processing Industry
The association recalled that export duties on sunflower seeds were precisely what once allowed Ukraine to build a powerful processing industry and become one of the world leaders in sunflower oil exports. According to Ukroliyaprom's assessment, abolishing this duty will lead to the direct utilization of processing plants in EU countries and Turkey using Ukrainian raw materials. A similar effect has already been observed in the rapeseed segment: thanks to the existing duty, domestic rapeseed processing volumes have nearly tripled, confirming the stimulating role of export regulation in developing local capacities.
Soybeans and Rapeseed: Duties Affect Only Intermediaries
The statement separately clarified the mechanism of duties on soybeans and rapeseed. Agricultural producers who independently grow these crops are already exempt from paying the export fee when exporting their own harvest. The duty applies exclusively to intermediaries interested in exporting raw materials to supply foreign processing plants. Thus, abolishing the fee will not ease the burden on end producers, but it will deprive the budget of tax revenues and foreign exchange earnings without increasing the throughput capacity of borders and ports.
Domestic Market Supply Is Not in Question
The association assured that there are no grounds for concern regarding the supply of vegetable oil to the domestic market. Sunflower oil consumption in Ukraine is about 400–500 thousand tons per year, which accounts for less than 10% of the total production volume of domestic enterprises. The country has sufficient available processing capacities to process the entire harvested crop of sunflower seeds, soybeans, and rapeseed throughout the season. This means that even with the partial shutdown of several plants, the domestic market remains fully supplied.
Industry Resilience Amid War
"Over the years of the full-scale war, the oil and fat industry has repeatedly proven its resilience and ability to work in the most difficult conditions. We will get through the temporary difficulties, and the factories will return to work. The main thing today is not to make decisions that will cross out years of development in our processing sector and turn Ukraine back into a raw material supplier," Stepan Kapshuk stated. Earlier, Allseeds, one of the largest vegetable oil exporters, also suspended operations due to attacks, confirming that current difficulties are temporary and security-related, rather than caused by a systemic shortage of raw materials or processing capacities.
