The agreement between Ukraine and Turkey on a free trade zone provides for the establishment of a duty-free export quota for 50 thousand tons of raw materials for the production of sunflower oil. This will increase competition in the Ukrainian market of sunflower seeds, on the export of which protective duties have been introduced for many years.

This was reported by "Association Ukroliyaprom" in the material on 112.ua.

It is noted that market participants have serious concerns about the observance of Ukrainian economic interests from a number of sensitive positions.

The Ukroliyaprom association says that Turkey has huge processing capacities of its own oil extraction plants, and seeds are grown in a much smaller volume than the country needs.

“Earlier, the seeds were taken in Russia, but she fenced herself off with a duty. Turkey is very interested in buying raw materials for the production of sunflower oil in Ukraine. Like a bolt from the blue, today we learn unofficially that we allegedly agreed on a quota of 50,000 tons of sunflower seeds that Turkish entrepreneurs can buy without paying export duties,” the association says.

Experts also stressed that 50,000 tons of sunflower seeds is, in fact, two months of operation of the mill plant.

“Realizing this, Ukraine must fight for every seed, for every kilogram! The opening of duty-free access for Turkish processors to Ukrainian sunflower seeds is, in fact, a mine that is being laid under the foundation of our industry, which only last year supplied $8.6 billion worth of products to foreign markets,” commented the Ukroliyaprom association.

It is also noted that the authorities were preparing the final version of the FTA with Turkey in the regime of heightened secrecy. Until recently, no one had even seen the draft deal.

“We have not seen the draft agreement on an FTA with Turkey. This is the first time that we have been ignored to such an extent. The Cabinet said that they were conferring with business. We have not yet seen the final version of the deal, and no one has coordinated anything with industry representatives,” the association says.

The association emphasizes that the main requirement, which reflected and reflects the opinion of Ukrainian oil and fat enterprises, was not to make any concessions on the export duty on sunflower seeds. A protective duty has been established for the export of sunflower seeds in Ukraine.

Recall that the average value of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Oil Price Index in January amounted to 185.9 points, up 7.4 points (4.2%) from last month and reaching a historic high.

latifundist.com