Ukrainian News Agency
The Ukroliaprom association of oil producers has called on President Viktor Yuschenko to prevent cancellation of the export duty on sunflower.
Ukroliaprom made the call in a letter to Yuschenko, a text of which Ukrainian News obtained.
Ukroliaprom believes that cancellation of the export duty will provoke a crisis in the oil and fat industry and on the entire Ukrainian food market.
Ukroliaprom also believes that export of sunflower could result in devaluation of the hryvnia and an increase in the rate of inflation because of a fall in the volume of production of sunflower oil.
Ukroliaprom is forecasting that most oil extraction plants will shut down and that the industry in general will decline if the export duty is abolished.
According to the letter, Ukroliaprom’s member-enterprises are capable of processing this year’s entire sunflower harvest (about 6.8 million tons) to produce 2.4 million tons of sunflower oil.
Ukroliaprom’s Director-General Stepan Kapshuk and representatives of eleven member-companies of the association signed the letter.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Cabinet of Ministers has proposed that the parliament lift the export duty on sunflower until September 1, 2009.
In the relevant bill (No. 3353) entitled «On Amendment of Certain Laws of Ukraine to Avert the Negative Consequences of the Global Financial Crisis on the Development of the Agro-Industrial Complex,» the Cabinet of Ministers proposes temporarily allowing export of sunflower seed (UKT VED code 120600) without payment of export duty.
Exports of sunflower seed decreased by 296,680 tons or 98.5% to 4,570 tons worth USD 4.9 million during the January-September period of 2008 compared with the January-September period of 2007.