President believes food export duties are better for ensuring food security

President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych considers introduction of export duties on food more appropriate for ensuring food security of the state, he said at the public presentation of the concept "Investment reform”, presidential press office reported. 

"We actually have already made the decision... We took time to adopt the appropriate laws. I would like to ask you, Mr. Lytvyn to consider them now in the Parliament as urgent, in order to settle complaints from our partners, traders operating in Ukraine," Viktor Yanukovych said. 

After the adoption of appropriate legislation, the mechanism of export quotas must be immediately abolished, he said. However, until then, the quotas would remain active, he stressed. "It is necessary to prevent misbalancing the food market as a result of hasty, uncontrolled export of food from the country, including with the aim to avoid paying the export duties," Viktor Yanukovych said. 

The President once again stressed that it is important to speed up the implementation of land reform this year. 

“I would like to emphasize that according to the Program of Economic Reforms for 2010 – 2014, by the end of 2012 a transparent market of agricultural land must be established. There will be necessary legislative base created for that," Viktor Yanukovych said, adding that all the necessary discussions on the features of these laws are currently being held in the society. 

As a result, President Yanukovych said, two primary laws of Ukraine in the area of land management will be considered and adopted during the first half of this year - "On the State Land Cadaster" and "On the Land Market". 

The President stressed that Ukraine aims to introduce the market of land to encourage not speculation, but production, and to ensure equal access to the market to both domestic and foreign entities, so that land had the most efficient owner. 

"All steps in this direction will be made in the conditions of a broad dialogue with the public. Not a single family of farmers that is working on land will be discriminated. This is my requirement," Viktor Yanukovych stressed.