Direct agricultural support for Ukraine will reach 1.2 billion euros annually in ten years
Ukrainian farmers could receive approximately 300 million euros in direct agricultural support in the first year following Ukraine's accession to the European Union. Over a ten-year period, annual funding is projected to gradually increase to 1.2 billion euros. This was reported by UkrRudProm citing Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
The financial integration of Ukraine’s agricultural sector, comprising over 32.7 million hectares of farmland, will represent an unprecedented development in EU history. Under current area-based payment rules, Ukraine could have claimed between 70 and 96.5 billion euros over seven years, while estimates by think tank Bruegel put the figure at 85 billion euros, surpassing the existing budgets of France or Poland.
However, accession talks coincide with the EU budget reform for 2028–2034, which proposes replacing the traditional structure with national and regional partnership plans totaling 865 billion euros. Farmer support is expected to shift to the DABIS instrument, featuring a regressive scale and a mandatory cap of 100,000 euros per farm per year.
Key beneficiaries and structural limits
Medium-sized Ukrainian agricultural enterprises averaging 485 hectares, numbering about 20,000, are set to become the primary beneficiaries of these payments. They possess adequate administrative capacity while remaining below the 100,000-euro cap.
Large agroholdings will see limited benefits if the cap applies across affiliated entities. Meanwhile, roughly 4 million smallholders producing 30% of output will face major administrative hurdles, including official registration requirements and minimum area thresholds.
Illustrative photo: Vian / CC BY-SA 4.0
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