Zelenskyy signs law introducing 10% export duty on soybean, rapeseed seeds

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed into law the Integrated Industrial Pollution Prevention and Control Act (No. 13157), which introduces a 10% export duty on soybean and rapeseed seeds.

According to the document's status page on the Verkhovna Rada website, the law was returned to parliament with the president's signature on Tuesday.

For several years, Stepan Kapshuk, CEO of the Ukroliyaprom Association, had advocated for restricting the export of 50% of the rapeseed harvest to increase capacity utilization at Ukrainian processing plants, which in 2024 in particular faced a significant shortage of raw materials.

Subsequently, Dmytro Kysylevsky, deputy chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Economic Development, drafted bill No. 13134, with amendment No. 40 proposing a 10% export duty on rapeseed and soybeans. He argued that Ukrainian oilseed processing plants were underutilized by 35%, and that if engaged fully, the sector could generate an additional UAH 7.3 billion in budget revenues to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine. An extra $238 million, he noted, could fund the construction of dozens of plants and create thousands of new jobs.

Several associations criticized the bill "On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine on Expanding Patient Access to Medicines Procured by an Authorized Healthcare Procurement Agency Through Managed Entry Agreements," which included the proposed export duty on soybeans and rapeseed. Business groups argued the measure was discriminatory toward small and medium-sized producers, aimed at boosting processors' profits at the expense of farmers, and in violation of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.

On June 18, the Verkhovna Rada voted down the initiative. However, soybean-related amendments were incorporated into bill No. 13157, which was later passed on July 16 with the support of 245 lawmakers.

Following its passage, three resolutions were registered in parliament seeking to annul the vote on bill No. 13157, specifically the amendments imposing a 10% export duty on soybeans and rapeseed. These were submitted by MPs Dmytro Razumkov (Chesno movement), Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze (European Solidarity), and Oleksiy Honcharenko, who filed three draft resolutions (13157-P, 13157-P1, 13157-P2). The Verkhovna Rada rejected all three initiatives.