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Ukraine's government and grain traders have managed to reach a compromise on grain export duties, Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Mykola Prysiazhniuk has said.

"We’ve made an attempt to reach a compromise… the government has made serious concessions, and value-added tax in that sector [grain exports] will be lifted as of Jan.1," he told Interfax-Ukraine.

According to the minister, an ad hoc group consisting of government officials and representatives of large agribusinesses are elaborating a corresponding bill that will be tabled in parliament "in the coming working week."

At the same time, Petro Poroshenko, the head of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine, said he doesn’t share the minister’s optimism.

"This is a considerable achievement, however, one has to be sure that these promises are kept," he said while commenting in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

Ukraine introduced grain export duties for the period of July 1, 2011 through Jan. 1, 2012: 9% on the export of wheat, but not less than EUR 17 per tonne of wheat, 12% on the export of maize, but not less than EUR 20 per tonne of maize, and 14% on the export of barley, but not less than EUR 23 per tonne.

In addition, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry proposed to introduce export duties on sunflower oil (10%, but not less than EUR 84 per tonne), soybeans (12%, but not less than EUR 33 per tonne), and rapeseed (9%, but not less than EUR 15 per tonne). The ministry also suggests that grain export duty should be extended to the entire 2012.

The chairman of the parliamentary committee for agrarian policy and land relations, Hryhoriy Kaletnik, in turn proposed to reduce exports duties for grain and rapeseeds to EUR 2 per tonne and that for sunflower oil to EUR 5 per tonne.

Farmers have called for the immediate cancelation of the duties, pointing to losses from the production of the abovementioned crops and the forced closure of businesses.

A number of agrarian associations have recently staged rallies to draw the government’s attention to these problems.