December 29, 2011
Tax code changes to benefit Ukrainian meat and dairy industry
The Ukrainian Agribusiness Club Association is embracing changes to the Tax Code to support the producers of meat and dairy products, and hopes that this step will be a prerequisite for the revival of the livestock industry, the association's agricultural markets expert, Taras Hahaliuk said.
"An overall reduction in milk production in the first 11 months of this year totalled 2% compared to last year's period - primarily at the expense of households. The growth of production at agricultural enterprises (0.1%) could not compensate for the reduction in the group of private households," the expert said.
He said that for the period from January 1, 2011, when subsidies for milk and meat producers were cancelled, the dairy industry suffered significant losses, because the major manufacturers of raw milk - households - received no support.
As a result, there was a decrease of the amount of milk received for processing, as well as a reduction in the production of cheese, butter, dry milk products, while wholesale selling prices for milk and dairy products grew by 4% to 5% compared to the same period in 2010.
The expert said that it was encouraging that amendments to the Tax Code had been adopted simultaneously with the adoption of the law on Ukraine's state budget for 2012.