Ukraine imposed a duty on soybeans and rapeseed: who will pay and who will not
3 September 22:17
On September 4, 2025, Ukraine officially introduced a 10% export duty on soybeans and rapeseed. This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to information from the State Customs Service of Ukraine.
Such changes are provided for by Law No. 4536-IX, which was signed by the President of Ukraine on September 2, 2025. It was published in the Voice of Ukraine on September 3. The document amends the Tax Code as part of the reform of environmental regulation and industrial pollution.
The duty rate will remain at 10% until January 1, 2030, after which it will be reduced by 1 percentage point annually, down to 5%.
Who will not have to pay
The law provides for exceptions: agricultural producers and cooperatives that grow soybeans or rapeseed themselves and export them are exempt from paying the duty. This creates a preferential model for farmers, not traders.
In addition, the law states that the term “agricultural producer” corresponds to the definition in the Tax Code.
We would like to add that in three months the Government should develop and submit to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law on the establishment of the State Fund for Support of Agrarians, financed by the revenues from the new duty.
Why the export duty was established
Experts explain that about 35% of soybean and rapeseed processing capacity in Ukraine is idle due to a lack of raw materials. The introduction of a duty could stimulate the growth of domestic processing, the creation of new businesses and jobs. It is estimated that this could bring up to UAH 7.3 billion in additional revenue to the state budget and USD 238 million in investments in new plants.
Ukraine wants to move from being a raw material exporter to a producer of higher value-added products, especially if its preferential access to the EU is completed.
Ukraine imposes export duties on soybeans and rapeseed: how will the market react?
Traders have already reacted: prices on the domestic soybean and rapeseed market have fallen by 500-600 UAH/t, as traders have included the expected amount of duty in the price. As a result, the demand for exports decreased, but farmers who exported independently without traders did not suffer any losses.
What will the export duty change for all players in the economic market
Traders will be under pressure from new costs, which may reduce margins or reduce the volume of purchases.
Producers will be incentivized to develop a cooperative export model or to process.
Processing companies have a competitive advantage: cheaper raw materials and the ability to scale production.
The state receives additional sources of revenue through the farmers’ support fund, stimulating local processing and employment growth.
Read also: Take away and share: how the introduction of duties on soybeans and rapeseed will affect farmers
10% duty on soybean and rapeseed exports: how the Verkhovna Rada voted for the relevant amendments and why they were criticized
The duty on soybean and rapeseed exports was included in the amendment to the draft law No. 13157 “On Integrated Prevention and Control of Industrial Pollution” submitted by the then Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
The initiative was supported by members of the Tax Committee and representatives of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy. The goal is to redirect export volumes to domestic processing plants to utilize their capacities.
It is worth noting that in June 2025, the Verkhovna Rada failed the “soybean amendments” to introduce a 10% export duty on rapeseed and soybeans as part of the draft law No. 13134). Only 204 MPs cast their votes in favor.
According to journalist Yevhen Plinsky, this was expected, as it would have interfered with the working “schemes”.
“Officially, it was “sold” to us as a defense of internal processing. They say it is more profitable to process it in Ukraine and export the processed products. The goal is to protect the processor. But this is not the case. It is more profitable to export soybeans and rapeseed under fictitious documents (as meal and bran) and process it at European plants, receiving foreign currency for offshore companies,” Plinsky explained.
He added that the attempt to introduce export taxes is just an application to raise the corruption and smuggling tariff. At the same time, no real loopholes for fraudulent exports are being closed.
Nevertheless, on July 17, the Verkhovna Rada voted for amendment No. 40 to draft law No. 13157.
The co-author of the amendment, Dmytro Kysylevskyi (MP from the Servant of the People party), said that the budget would receive UAH 7.3 billion and $238 million in foreign exchange earnings annually. The Cabinet of Ministers is to create a fund to support farmers with these revenues.
According to the KSE Center, small and medium-sized farmers will lose UAH 280-670 million annually. At the same time, Andriy Verevsky’s Kernel agricultural holding, which processed 93,000 tons of soybeans and 14,000 tons of rapeseed during the quarter, benefited from cheaper raw materials on the domestic market and higher processing margins.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy delayed signing the document. He did so only a month and a half after the law was sent for his signature.
What you need to know about the situation with rapeseed and soybeans in Ukraine
In the second half of August, Ekonomichna Pravda published information that farmers had stopped selling rapeseed. The reason was that the 10% duty killed the first revenue of the season.
Farmers are holding on to rapeseed, which is usually sold immediately after harvest, as purchase prices have fallen by 5-10% and buyer activity has decreased. The main problem was that due to the uncertainty of the 10% duty law, farmers cannot plan their expenses for the fall sowing season.
Industry experts predict that this year’s rapeseed sales will be delayed until winter or even longer. The duty acted as a price shock and disrupted the traditional cash flow cycle of farmers.
At the same time, NV journalists made a story about how at least 8 new plants are preparing to launch due to the introduction of the export duty. These are, in particular, the projects of Astarta, Epicenter, LNZ Group, and Golden Dragon. The industry’s total capacity will reach the pre-war level of 24 million tons per year.
Even then, Global Oil Group offered 39,000 UAH/t for soybean oil on EXW terms. At the same time, raw soybeans were bought for 16 800-18 000 UAH/t, and rapeseed – for 24 500 UAH/t. For comparison, Grade 2 wheat was purchased at 10 450 UAH/t, and Grade 3 wheat at 9 500 UAH/t.
It is also worth considering the fact that processing of 1 ton of rapeseed or soybeans brings $60-70 of added value.
The situation with rapeseed has caused a resonance not only in the Ukrainian economic space. In July, Polish oil producers demanded to unblock imports of rapeseed from Ukraine due to the projected shortage of this crop in the country’s domestic market.
Less rapeseed, higher prices: how the agricultural market changed in 2025
In 2025, Ukraine harvested about 3.16 mln tons of rapeseed, which is 12% less than last season. According to the current data, more than 1.28 mln ha of rapeseed areas have been threshed, which is 101% of the planned amount. The average yield was 2.47 t/ha. The drop in volumes is attributed to unfavorable weather conditions – spring frosts and drought, especially in the southern and eastern regions, negatively affected the crop’s yield. This was also one of the reasons for the decline in processing volumes and export potential.
According to various analytical sources, the volume of rapeseed harvested ranges from 2.9 to 3.16 mln tons. In particular, Barva Invest analysts estimate the harvest at 2.9 mln tons, while AgroReview forecasts 3 mln tons. The Ukrainian Grain Association provides similar data. At the same time, exports in 2025/26 marketing year are expected to reach 2.5-2.7 mln tons, which is significantly less than the 3.18 mln tons exported in the previous season. About 400 thsd tonnes of rapeseed will be used for domestic processing.
According to APK-Inform, in 2024/25 season Ukraine exported 3.14 mln tonnes of rapeseed, down 15% from the previous year. The downward trend of exports is expected to continue. This is due to both the decline in harvest and a legislative innovation: starting from September 4, 2025, the export duty on rapeseed will come into force at 10% of the customs value. At the same time, agricultural producers exporting their own products will be exempted from paying the duty.
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Rapeseed prices have shown growth. In August 2025, traders were offering forward contracts at $540 – $560 per tonne, and spot prices reached $530 – $540 per tonne on DAP Odesa. This is significantly higher than last year, when prices were at $365-388 per ton. At the same time, despite the decline in the overall harvest, domestic processing companies have sufficient capacity to process the entire harvested volume.
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