Ukraine is tightening the rules for exporting soybeans and rapeseed. The Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture is developing an IT system that will track who actually grows these crops and who exports them, so that the state can stimulate processing inside the country and not lose money on raw exports.
Minister Oleksiy Sobolev explained that during the full-scale war Ukraine launched about 3 million tons of new oilseed processing capacities, and another 3 million tons are being designed. That is, plants are ready to crush more — but raw materials still often leave the country unprocessed.
Why the duty appeared
Earlier, the government introduced a 10% export duty on soybeans and rapeseed. The logic is simple:
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if you export raw material → you pay;
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if you grow it yourself and/or process it in Ukraine → you can avoid the duty.
According to Sobolev, this is already working: in September, rapeseed oil exports grew 4.5 times compared to August — that is, instead of shipping raw rapeseed, businesses began to sell processed products. This brings more value and taxes to the budget.
In addition, the money from this duty goes to a special fund to support the agricultural sector, including farmers in front-line regions — so the fiscal effect is targeted.
What is changing now
To make the exemption fair, the government adopted an experimental resolution:
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exporters who really produced the crop don’t pay the 10%;
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those who simply buy raw material to export it — pay.
To prove that the exporter is also the producer, a clear method of confirmation has been approved.
The role of the State Agrarian Register
To avoid manual checks, the ministry is launching monitoring through the State Agrarian Register (SAR). On its basis, a unified system of soybean and rapeseed exporters will be formed — who grows, who processes, who exports.
Next step — integration.
“A mechanism for exchanging information between customs and tax authorities is being developed in order to switch to an automatic mode in the future. This will be an IT solution similar to the VAT Electronic Administration System and will be operational by September 2026,” Sobolev said.
So, in fact, they are building a “SEA for oilseeds”: customs, tax and agrarian registers will see the same data, which should cut off gray schemes.
What will the state look at
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how much soybean/rapeseed was declared as grown;
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how much was actually exported;
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whether the exporter is a producer or just a trader;
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whether the volume corresponds to the land bank and yields.
After the end of the marketing years, the ministry will compare the data and evaluate how much of the harvest was processed inside the country. Preliminary figures, Sobolev says, already show an increase in domestic processing of rapeseed and soybeans.
Why this is important for business
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Processors get raw materials. Ukraine has built capacities — they must be loaded.
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Farmers get an incentive to process or sell to processors. Raw exports will always be more “watched.”
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The sector gets a predictable rule: grow/produce → no duty; just export raw → pay.
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The state gets money for support programs — that 10% doesn’t disappear, it goes to agrarian aid, including to front-line oblasts.
In fact, the government is switching from “we’ll just tax everyone” to “we’ll tax only those who take value abroad.” And to make that fair, they’re building an IT system so no one can pretend to be a farmer on paper.
