The Ukrtsukor national association of sugar makers has urged Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to consider the problems of the sugar-beet industry at a meeting of the Coordination Council for the agrarian policy with the participation of leading sugar producers and producers of farm goods.
Ukrainian News learned this from a letter by the association, the wording of which was made available to the agency.
In particular, the association urges to consider as priority-driven questions such issues as endorsement of a comprehensive program of restructuring and development of the sugar-beet industry, a draft law on sugar and market of sugar, and the improvement of taxation of the sugar industry, as it is a seasonal industry.
Moreover, the association urges Tymoshenko to consider the continuation of the compensation for a part of interest rates on credits to producers of farm goods, processing companies and companies funding suppliers of sugar-beet. It is also necessary, according to the association, to foresee compensation for the interest rate on credits to be raised for purchase of imported equipment for the food industry and delay of payment of VAT until the commissioning of the equipment.
It is also necessary, the association said, to introduce non-tariff mechanisms of protection of the domestic market of sugar, sweeteners, intensive synthetic sweeteners within the requirements of the World Trade Organization. The association also wants the government to step up monitoring of observation of the legislation with imports of sugar.
The Ukrtsukor national association of sugar makers favors soon endorsement of legal provisions on the production of alternative and renewable types of bio-fuel at sugar plants.
The producers of sugar complained of the difficult situation on the market with the excessive supply of sugar and low wholesale price of it, while sugar is imported from Belarus in the frames of the agreement on free trade. There is a tendency for the growth in the volumes of sugar imports, they said.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Ukrtsukor national association of sugar makers is forecasting that the area of land on which sugar beet will be cultivated for harvesting in 2008 will reduce from 640,000 to 540,000 hectares.
Ukrtsukor is predicting a rise in the wholesale prices of sugar from UAH 2,600 - UAH 2,850 to UAH 3,500 - UAH 3,600 for ton, including value added tax, in the 2007/2008 marketing year (September 2007 - August 2008).
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