Taras Vysotskyi, General Director of the Association “Ukrainian Agribusiness Club” at the panel discussion “Ukrainian Agricultural Potential - Visions for Ukrainian Agribusiness” highlighted the main trends in the agro-industrial complex, which will be relevant in the coming years. The event was organized by German-Ukrainian Agricultural Policy Dialogue (APD) within the framework of AGRITECHNICA 2017, which takes place in Hanover, Germany.

According to the expert, the agrarian sector has grown significantly over the past 10 years, but the agro-industrial complex still has 30% of the untapped potential. General Director of UCAB is convinced that the development of the agrarian sector is associated with rapid technological re-equipment. “The agrarian sector is the driver of the economy and already beginning to create incentives for the development of other related industries, for example, for the development of IT, which produce export-oriented value added products. For example, the first Ukrainian smart agriculture inventions were presented today at the exhibition before the seminar. These projects are already being certified for potential foreign buyers. Such a trend will continue,” said Taras Vysotskyi.

He noted another trend in the agro-industrial complex - the deshadowization of the sector. In his view, the change in the taxation system, the abolition of the special regime of internal VAT and the return of export VAT led to the gradual transition of agrarian enterprises that previously worked for cash to more civilized, transparent forms of management. These changes can reduce the political risks of Ukraine, which ultimately should lead to cheaper loans. Available funds, in turn, will improve the farmer’s access to the technologies and allow to attract high-paying and highly skilled labor. Thus, according to the expert, this will help to increase efficiency, productivity and use the untapped potential of the industry within two to three years. In parallel, other sectors will be developed, in particular the processing, which will produce value added products. “This week is a very popular thesis about branding of Ukrainian products. Both the state and business must do everything in their power, so that the 187 countries that import our agrarian products have an understanding that this is food from Ukraine”, - summarized General Director of UCAB.