Government prepares concessionary loans for farmers secured by harvest

The government is working on financial and logistical solutions to support farmers amid complications with maritime exports. Farmers will be able to attract additional funds secured against already harvested crops, but the final terms of the program have not yet been approved.

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy, jointly with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy, the National Bank, banks, and agrarian associations, is working out several mechanisms to assist producers.

In particular, the following are being considered:

• extension of concessionary lending under the "Affordable Loans 5 – 7 – 9%" program for replenishing working capital;
• use of state guarantees for new loans;
• relaxation of banks' requirements for farmers as borrowers;
• lending secured by harvested crops.

According to Minister of Agrarian Policy Taras Vysotskyi, the financing should help farms to carry out the autumn sowing campaign and prepare for the spring 2027 campaign without forced sales of grain at undervalued prices.

The Ministry of Finance is finalizing the distribution of state guarantees among banks, while the NBU is working on possible relaxation of requirements for agricultural producers. Vysotskyi stressed that the main task of the state is to prevent a halt in the production cycle in the agrarian sector.

Why farmers need support

The need for additional funding arose after the temporary suspension of vessel calls at the ports of Greater Odesa due to Russian strikes on the civilian fleet and port infrastructure.

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy compares the scale of the problems with maritime exports to the challenges at the start of the full-scale invasion. Ukraine is negotiating with international partners to restore stable operation of the maritime corridor and simultaneously expanding alternative logistics.

Danube ports will remain an important direction. In addition, the government plans to make maximum use of land routes. On the western border, more than ten dry ports have been created during the large-scale war, which can increase capacities for transshipment and export of products.

Earlier Kurs wrote that farmers warned of a risk of mass losses and bankruptcies due to the virtual halt of maritime exports. According to the estimate of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council, without the restoration of shipping, over 27 million tons of unsold produce may accumulate on the domestic market.

Based on materials from: Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine