The government of Ukraine and the European Commission have signed a EUR 26 million agreement aimed at supporting the development of agriculture and small farming in Ukraine.

The relevant document was signed by Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Dmytro Kuleba and Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Olivér Várhelyi during the meeting of the Council of the Ukraine-EU Association in Brussels on Tuesday.

According to the explanatory note to the document, the purpose of signing this agreement is to attract EU assistance to promote the development of a more inclusive and competitive agricultural sector, focused on the growth and sustainable development of small and medium-sized farms and small and medium-sized enterprises."

This assistance of the EU will be aimed at supporting land reform by combining the public land cadastre and the public register of ownership rights, the reform of institutions and the land utilization system. Moreover, these funds will contribute to institutional and sectoral reforms in agriculture and rural development.

In addition, the funds will be used to strengthen the target value chain in agriculture and ensure access to financing through the introduction of grant programs for small farmers.