The duty worked: Ukraine became the leader in rapeseed oil exports to the EU

In September, Ukraine exported a record monthly volume of rapeseed oil – almost 109 thousand tons, which is 4.5 times higher than the August figure. Including 92 thousand tons or 85% of total exports were shipped to the EU countries, economist Viktor Galasyuk reported.

He noted that this is a record volume for this geographical direction. Moreover, in July-August, the main volume of rapeseed oil to the EU was exported by Kenya. Meanwhile, Ukraine continued to ship unprocessed rapeseed.

“Think about it: Kenya has proven that it is better to produce oil than to simply sell seeds abroad. And we have had and still have big public discussions: which is better? Let’s think about it, let’s consult. Why produce, or is it better to supply unprocessed raw materials? This is a free market, someone needs it, we will be the feeder of Europe. It’s not a bad role to be the feeder of Europe, right?”, – said Galasyuk.

He explained that it was possible to gain leadership in the export of rapeseed oil thanks to the 10% duty on the export of rapeseed, so this idea worked. In essence, the duty became a tax on the export of unprocessed agricultural raw materials, the expert noted. After its introduction, more agricultural producers began to sell seeds on the domestic market: to load processing plants in Ukraine, to increase the volume of internal processing.

“There is no big math or economics here. It is common sense to process raw materials into value-added products,” added Galasyuk.

As previously reported, on July 16, 2025, the Verkhovna Rada adopted amendments to the legislation, introducing a 10% export duty on soybeans and rapeseed for grain traders. Producers of products were not affected by the restrictions. The money received from the duty is directed to the fund to support agricultural producers. On September 2, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the corresponding bill.

Tags: Ukraine, rapeseed oil