All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council Appeals to Parliament for Support of Essential Legislation for Agribusinesses in Occupied Territories

The bill addresses the major issue facing agricultural producers fr om occupied regions who have relocated to areas under Ukrainian control—freezing the collection and payments on loans taken before the war for business development. "Currently, most business entities have lost the ability to operate normally due to ongoing military actions, economic crisis, or occupation of the areas wh ere they conducted their business. Entrepreneurs are forced to cope with the risks and consequences of war, including losses from asset destruction, safety risks to personnel, damaged infrastructure, and cyberattacks," explains the bill's explanatory note.

The proposed legislation seeks to establish, for the duration of martial law, legal norms prohibiting banks from collecting debts from businesses whose production capacities were located in areas of active combat or territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation as of February 24, 2022, and from related individuals who guaranteed these loans. These loans had been issued under state guarantees on a portfolio basis and/or were supported by state financial aid as partial interest rate compensation.

The implementation of this law would help harmonize civil law and consumer credit legislation, enabling businesses that operated in the temporarily occupied territories before February 24, 2022, to resume their economic activities and eventually fulfill their obligations to creditor banks regarding previously obtained loans.