Presentation of concept of the program “Grain of Ukraine – 2008-2015” will take place within the sixth international conference “Grain industry-2007”.

Vladimir Klimenko, President of Ukrainian Grain Association, taking the lead in “Grain of Ukraine – 2008-2015” program development, as well as representatives of Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Ministry of Economics of Ukraine will share their thoughts concerning prospects of grain market development in Ukraine in the nearest years with the conference participants.

Within the presentation of the indicated program conference participants will be able to get to know the prospects of development of economics of Ukraine, agro industrial complex, demographic and social situation, which are the based criteria determining of agro industrial complex in prospect. Real estimate of these factors allows forecasting work of the enterprises for a long period of time sharply decreasing economic risks and increasing profitability of production.

We remind that the conference “Grain industry-2007” will take place on September, 26-27, in Kiev (Expocenter of Ukraine, hall No 1).

Organizer of the conference – APK-Inform.

For today more than 80 specialists from 43 companies confirmed their participation in the conference. Geography of participants is represented by Azerbaijan, Argentina, Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia, Slovakia, Pakistan, and France.

There are large Ukrainian agricultural producers and processors among the participants, in particular, Apostolov feed mill, WJ-Kherson, Novoukrainski grain milling complex, Pavlogradzernoproduct, Nibulon.

You can get the detailed program of the conference work here

Applications for participation are accepted till September, 15, inclusive.

Marketing Department of IA "APK -Inform” gives more detailed information concerning conditions of participation in the conference:+7 495 7894419, +380 562 320795 e-mail: pavlyuk@apk-inform.com

Official partner of the Sixth international conference “Grain industry-2007” is Canada-Ukraine Grain Project.

Main aim of Canada-Ukraine Grain Project is assistance in development of effective, transparent and viable market system in agrarian sector subject to gender equality issues.

The project puts into effect under financial support of Canadian agency on international development of CIDA and become embedded by a consulting company CanEd International. Among the main tasks of the projects are – growth of Ukrainian grain sector potential, development of the system of grain quality assessment for Ukrainian production competitiveness increasing on grain markets, development of credit programs and enhancement of grain marketing efficiency.

The specialists will make within the conference such reports as: “Analysis of extra cost while grain and by-products moving. Influence of gender aspects on production processes in grain industry” and “System of warehouse documents for grain. Lines and proposals on improvement”.

Reports will be made within the bounds of the session “Optimization of processes in grain products industry.”

We remind that the Sixth international conference “Grain industry-2007” will take place in Kiev on September, 26-27.

You can get more detailed information concerning program of the conference, terms of participation, sponsorship, reporting, and advertisement contacting Marketing Department of IA “APK-Inform”:

+380 562 320795, +7 495 7894419, e-mail: info@apk-inform.com, ads@apk-inform.com.

Each year fat-and-oil market expands and becomes more attractive as investment one due to increase of fields of oilseeds by-products application for food as well as inedible aims. At the same time such galloping increase of oilseeds production creates strict competitiveness for croplands between oilseeds and grains and causes rise in prices for the last ones. Despite significant increase of world production of oilseeds demand for vegetable oils essentially exceeded offer. The result was price leap till the level than exceeded 15-years maximum. During the last conference analysts supposed that the current season will be period of change and price indices will reach price critical level. The matter about the fact how the events will develop in the new season will be discussed during the next conference.

The Sixth international conference "Fat-and-oil industry-2007" will take place on November, 14-15, in Kiev, President-hotel "Kievskiy".

Taking into account the current situation on the oilseeds markets of the world, Ukraine, Russia and the CIS countries, the main subjects of the event will be the following:

- Market of oilseeds and by-products

- Logistics and sales of fat-and-oil products on CIF basis: advantages and problems

- Derivation and promotion of new brands in fat-and-oil industry

- Mobilization of investment into fat-and-oil industry

- Quality and safety of fat-and-oil production

The speakers of the conference will be the leading specialists of consulting, research and industrial companies, nongovernmental organizations as well as state bodies and industrial unions from Ukraine, Russia, Germany, the USA, Argentina, Netherlands, France and Poland.

The expected number of participants in 2007 - more than 250 persons from 25 countries.

Taking into account the experience of the previous events target audience will be: trading companies, processing enterprises, oilseeds producers, suppliers of tropical oils, producers and suppliers of equipment for fat-and-oil industry, forwarding and surveying companies, analytical agencies, banks, insurance, leasing and inspection companies. There are owners of companies, directors, technologists, engineers, and analysts among them.

Historical reference

Following the results of the fifth international conference "Fat-ad-oil industry-2006" (November, 15-16, Odessa, hotel "Odessa") 325 persons from 24 countries took part in the event including companies from Ukraine, Russia, and other countries from the near abroad, as well as from Egypt, Pakistan, Portugal, Jordan, Israel, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, etc. Such companies as Delta Wilmar, "Risoil terminal", "SGS Ukraine", group "Graintrading company Allseeds Ukraine", Odessa fat-and-oil complex.

For more details concerning conditions of participation in the conferemce, sponsorship and making the report, please, contact Marketing Department of IA "APK-Inform": tel/fax: +380 562 320795; +7 495 789-44-19; e-mail: ponomareva@apk-inform.com

You can find the whole operative information concerning the Sixth international conference "Fat-and-oil industry-2007" as well as information about the previous conferences of the agency at the site www.apk-inform.com in the section "Conferences".

APK-Inform starts publication of series of articles by Elena Balbekova, Senior Associate AGA Partners Law Firm Attorney-at-law, Ukraine

http://www.agalawyers.org/lawyers_eng_eb.htm

1.2. Business activity

1.2.1. Taxation

Legal entities, generally described above, incorporated to and operating under the legislation of Ukraine are normally treated as tax residents and are taxable on their world wide income. Legal entities incorporated abroad and operating under the laws of another country, obviously, are normally treated as foreign tax residents and are taxable on two sources of income:

a. Business income received from carrying out trade or business in Ukraine, and

b. Other non-business income received from Ukrainian sources.

According to the Law of Ukraine No. 334/94 "On Taxation of Profits of Enterprises", dated December 28, 1994 (herein the "Profit Tax Law"), the tax on companies is known as corporate income tax. Currently, this profit tax is calculated at a flat rate 25%. However, that separate tax rules pertain to insurance companies, operations with securities and to agricultural enterprises.

Under domestic tax accounting rules, tax items are normally recognized on the basis of the cash-accrual method (first event rule). The tax year corresponds to the calendar year. Taxpayers must submit tax returns for a calendar quarter, half year, three quarters and calendar year, and make quarterly tax payments. Quarterly tax returns must be submitted within 40 days following the last calendar day of each calendar quarter, half year and three quarters and the fourth quarter.

Resident entities are taxable on their worldwide income received or accrued within a reporting period. The amount of taxable income is determined by subtracting allowable deductible expenses and capital allowance from gross income.

Gross income is defined as any income from domestic or foreign sources received or accrued by taxpayer from any activity. Such income may be in monetary, tangible and intangible form. The "Profit Tax Law" also describes the items included in and excluded from the gross income, deductible expenses etc. Capital allowance or, in other words, depreciation of fixed assets and intangible assets, under the "Tax Profit Law" means - the gradual carrying forward of expenses for the acquisition, manufacturing or improvement of such fixed and intangible assets and for decreasing the adjusted profit of a taxpayer.

Non-business income from Ukrainian sources is normally subject to withholding tax on a gross basis, provided such income is not attributable to a non-residents permanent establishment in Ukraine. Withholding is made by a resident taxpayer when income is paid to a non-resident.

For withholding tax purposes, the following items of income are treated as received from a Ukrainian source: interest income, dividends income, rents, income from immovable property, insurance income, royalty income, winnings, commissions, broker or agent fees, and other income.

Taxation of non-residents shall be discussed in a separate document, since the author of the present legal overview is describing the legislation rules and procedures mainly for the whole -owned foreign subsidiaries, incorporated under the Ukrainian legislation.

The Profit Tax Law entitles Ukrainian resident companies to pay dividends to its shareholders regardless of whether the paying entities have recorded income or losses for the tax period. Moreover, the Profit Tax Law further provides that there is no distinction between accounting and taxable income/loss for the purposes of this rule. Corporate income tax is paid on dividends distributed - at the rate 25 %. The tax accrued on top of a dividend payment and is made from the funds of the issuing company. This means that when the distribution is made a tax payment of 25 % of the dividend is remitted to the State and the full value of the dividend is paid to the shareholder, who is a foreign investor, in the case considered. At the end of the tax period, the paying company has the right to use the amount of previously contributed tax in dividends as a credit against its corporate tax liabilities, as it is stated by the Profit Tax Law. However on practice, the mechanism is hardly implemented.

It is important to mention, that dividend payments made to non-resident taxpayers are subject to a 15 percent withholding tax described above (unless other is not established by the respective tax treaties between Ukraine and other States). The amount of it withheld should be remitted to the State at the time of the dividend distribution.

In accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Value Added Tax", dated April 3, 1997, value added tax (herein "VAT") is imposed on:

" the supply of goods, and services in Ukraine in the course of business; and

" the import of goods and services into Ukraine.

Supplies of goods and services by entities that qualify as VAT payers are subject to VAT irrespective of whether they are made for a consideration or free of charge.

The following transactions are outside the scope of Ukrainian VAT:

" the issue, sale and exchange of securities;

" depository, clearing and registrar activities in respect of securities;

" the provision of property by a lessor to a lessee under operating lease and return of property upon expiry of the operating lease;

" interest element of lease payments under financial lease agreements;

" provision of financial loans and bank guarantees;

" exchange of foreign currency; insurance and reinsurance services specified in the Law on Insurance;

" contribution of fixed assets to the statutory fund of a Ukrainian legal entity, both domestic and cross-border;

" payment of dividends and royalties in cash;

" funds under loan, deposit, insurance or proxy agreements;

" brokerage and dealer services in respect of securities transaction;

" transfer of a taxpayer's assets to another taxpayer in the course of business transformation;

" transit of cargoes and passengers through Ukraine.

VAT payers, whether residents or non-residents, include:

" entities whose volume of VATable transactions exceeded UAH 300,000 in any period during the previous 12 months;

" importers of goods or services;

" entities which engage in trade for cash, regardless of their monthly sales turnover; and

" entities which engage in the transport of cargo or passengers via the territory of Ukraine.

VAT is levied at two rates:

" 20% on domestic sales and imports of goods, works and services, and

" 0% on export of goods and provision of works or services to be used outside Ukraine; sales via duty free shops; international transport services.

A person qualifying as a taxable person is obliged to register with the tax authority at the place of its location and to receive a VAT registration number. The application for VAT registration must be submitted by the correspondent person to the local tax authority not later than the 20th calendar day following the date when the volume of taxable supplies exceeds the above threshold.

Any person that intends to trade for cash must apply to register for VAT 10 days prior to commencing trading irrespective of the anticipated volume of its supplies.

A voluntary VAT registration is available to any person whose turnover does not exceed the compulsory registration threshold. Voluntary registration is effective from the date of the issue of the registration certificate.

The local tax authority should issue a VAT registration certificate to the applicant within 10 business days. The registration takes effect from the date specified on the registration certificate.

VAT due to the state (or subject to refund) is calculated using the input - output method. A taxable person's VAT liability in any VAT accounting period is the total amount of output tax due on its supplies less the input VAT they have incurred on related expenditure that the person has incurred during the same period.

a. On the supply of goods a person's liability to account for VAT arises on the date the goods are shipped to the customer or the date the payment is received from the customer, whichever occurs earlier. Goods that are not shipped or moved (such as land, buildings or machinery) are taken to be supplied at the time when they are actually transferred (i.e. when legal ownership passes).

b. On the import of goods the liability to account for VAT arises on the date of filing the import customs declaration.

c. On the supply of services a person's liability to account for VAT arises either at the time of the execution of the document evidencing delivery of the service or on receipt of payment from the customer, whichever occurs earlier. It is usual commercial practice for there to be a formal document (the format of which is not prescribed) signed by both the supplier and customer, evidencing the actual delivery of the service.

d. On the import of services the liability to account for VAT arises on the customer through a reverse charge mechanism either at the date of payment to the service provider or at the date of the execution of the document evidencing receipt of the services, whichever occurs earlier.

Generally, the amount of VAT to be paid is based on the contractually agreed price of the goods and/or services. In the case of imported goods, the value is based on the contractual price, which cannot be less than the customs value of the goods inclusive of any customs and/or excise duty.

Domestic supplies must include the VAT in the stated sale price.

VAT should be charged based on the actual price of goods or services but this must not be less than the usual (i.e. market) price in the following cases:

" barter transactions;

" free of charge supplies;

" transactions between related entities; and

" supplies to business entities not registered for VAT.

Generally, VAT incurred by a registered person on the purchase and/or importation of goods and services used for the purpose of its own business (except for VAT incurred in relation to exempt supplies) can be recovered either by way a credit against output VAT or as a repayment. VAT cannot, generally, be recovered if it relates to expenses that are not deductible for corporate income tax purposes or to fixed and intangible assets that are not subject to depreciation.

A VAT refund in relation to zero-rated exports is available to the exporter within 30 calendar days following the date of submission to the tax authority of the set of documents prescribed by law.

The exporter can claim a VAT refund of the full amount of its input VAT provided it can demonstrate that it has made full payment to its suppliers and received payment from the buyer.

The proportion of input VAT credit that is subject to refund is calculated as a percentage by dividing the total value of export sales by the total value of taxable transactions (standard-rated and zero-rated but excluding the amount of any VAT) during that period, where a person makes both standard-rated domestic supplies and zero-rated exports in the same reporting period.

VAT returns must be made and liabilities paid on either a monthly or quarterly basis, depending on the person's volume of taxable transactions. The reporting period for a person whose volume of taxable transactions in the preceding calendar year exceeded 7,200 non-taxable allowances (currently UAH 122,400 or approximately 20,000 EURO) is a calendar month. A taxable person whose volume of taxable transactions is below this threshold may opt for either a monthly or quarterly reporting period and may change its reporting period any time during a calendar year from quarterly to monthly.

VAT should be paid within 10 calendar days following the date when the tax return has to be filed.

Payroll taxes

Salary or similar employment compensation payable to domestic employees by Ukrainian entities or by subsidiaries of foreign companies located in Ukraine is subject to the personal income tax.

Residents

For 2004-2006 the standard tax rate for tax residents is 13%, and from 1 January 2007 the tax rate will be 15%. The standard rate is applicable to most types of incomes, including salary income, dividends, royalties, investment income, gifts (with certain exceptions).

Income in form of prizes (except for prizes from the state lottery in cash) is taxed at double standard rates (i.e. 26% for 2004-2006) except for interest, royalty, dividends and salary incomes paid by Ukrainian employer.

Non-Residents

Income earned by non-residents from sources in Ukraine in form of interest, dividends and royalty is taxed at the same rates as for residents (see above).

The PIT Law provides that any other income earned by non-residents from sources in Ukraine is taxed at double standard rates (i.e. 26%). However, the PIT Law is unclear whether standard or double rates apply to salary income earned by non-residents in Ukraine. In accordance with the tax clarification issued by the State Tax Administration of Ukraine, salary income paid to a non-resident individuals by a Ukrainian resident employer shall be taxed at standard rate (i.e. 13%).

The more detailed analysis on employment compensation and other types of taxes shall be conducted upon an additional request.

1.2.2. Subsequent investments in business, domestic profit investments.

The procedure of increasing the statutory capital of joint-stock companies and limited liability companies is maintained by the variety of laws and standings. General norms on the increase of the statutory capital contain Civil code, Economic Code and Law "On Economic Associations". However, the issue of the statutory capital increase by the joint stock companies is minutely described in the "Regulations on the Procedure for increasing (decreasing) the size of the authorized capital of a joint stock company", presumably to introduce transparent rules, necessary to prevent a wide range of abuses prevalent among shareholders.

The Regulations set forth two methods for increasing the size of the statutory capital: 1. additional contributions (including tangible assets); 2. reinvesting dividends. Additionally, increases in the size of the statutory capital can take place in one or two ways: 1. increasing the quantity of shares in their existing par value; 2. increasing the par value of the existing shares.

The Regulations establish a number of requirements to the statutory fund increase, as well as some limitations. The procedure differs if the increase is carried out by the open joint stock company or closed joint stock company.

In many cases the statute of the joint stock company permits the management to increase the size of its statutory capital at the expense of additional contributions, with certain limitations applied.

The procedure for increasing the size of the statutory capital via the reinvestment of the dividends is also worthy to be considered additionally by the investor in case of the necessity of such increase, evoked by a number of factors.

In comparison to the procedure of statutory capital increase in the joint stock companies, the procedure of statutory capital increase by the limited liability companies is more simple and omits such steps as 45 days prior notification of the shareholders on the General meeting devoted to the statutory capital increase, issuing a share of stocks, registration of the issue in the State Commission on Securities and Fund market etc.

The issue on domestic profit investments shall be considered referring to the certain project commenced by the foreign investor in Ukraine and the respective plans for profit investments (e.g. the special regime for profit investments is provided for insurance companies, pension funds, and some other financial institutions).

As a major areas of interest for the domestic investments, stipulated by the concurrent factors and events are: securities (mainly municipal and State bonds/eurobonds), insurance programs, real estate, venture investments in IT sector, investment funds etc.

To be continued...

Around 400 leaders of East European Fresh Produce Business are planning to gather in Kiev in early December 2006 to learn about production and market trends for 2007 during the Third International Conference "Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine - 2006. Open Market"

Ukraine has the fastest growing economy among all European countries and the Fresh Produce Business of Ukraine represents the fastest growing sector of Ukraine's economy demonstrating an impressive 40% annual growth rate. Ukraine has been actively opening its market, reducing import duties for fresh and processed Fruits & Vegetables very sharply (f.e. import duty for apples has been lowered to 5%, representing a reduction by 50-80 times!). Ukrainian growers have received around US $2.7bn in revenues in 2005 from the sales of fruits, vegetables and potatoes produced, while importers have at least doubled their shipments to Ukraine.

During just three years fruit & vegetable processing industry has grown from around 15 representatives to over 100 companies, many of which have increased their capacities substantially every year. Companies from Germany, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Holland, Russia and other counties have been actively investing in fruit & vegetable processing, trying to take advantage of Ukraine's strategic location and huge production potential.

In 2006 Ukraine has appeared on the map of Europe as a major supplier of fresh vegetables, as it exported first large shipments of bell peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, watermelons and other fresh products to the EU. Ukraine also continues to build its presence on the Russian market of canned fruits & vegetables remaining a key supplier for this huge country.

Ukraine's unique climatic conditions (from subtropical in Crimea to continental in the Northern Ukraine) allow it to grow a wide range of different fruits, vegetables and berries, including luxurious early and late production opportunities. Ukraine presently has more than 1mn ha of irrigated land and one of the largest areas under drip irrigation in Europe.

Being the largest country in Europe (slightly larger than France), Ukraine is well know for its fertile agricultural soils, which comprise more than 40mn ha (twice as much as in France and more than in France and Germany put together). This all attracts a lot of farmers and entrepreneurs from the EU countries, as well as from the US, Canada, Australia and even South America to Ukraine. Some of them decide to stay and farm in Ukraine, contributing the rapid overall agricultural growth. Most of their interest is devoted to production of fruits & vegetables, as average annual return on investments in this sector is estimated at 120-200%.

Certainly, this luxurious market is of a high interest to the key international suppliers of inputs and equipment, and thus, most international seed, chemical, machinery and drip irrigation suppliers are well represented in Ukraine with branches in different parts of the country. However, rapidly growing demand for modern cold storage facilities, post-harvest handling and packing equipment as well as ag machinery for fruit & vegetable cultivation and harvesting continues to exceed demand. There is still a lot of room for new players on this market.

Annual Conferences organized by the Ukraine fresh produce industry magazine "Ahroohliad: ovochi ta frukty" has already become a traditional meeting place for most of the largest growers, processors, input and equipment suppliers, importers, exporters and distributors as well as fresh produce departments of top supermarket chains.

"A good mix of leading independent Ukrainian market analysts with representatives of largest local, foreign and international fresh produce businesses speaking at the conference with many opportunities for interactive discussions in a hospitable and beautiful city of Kiev at the time, when most growers have money on their accounts and traders and processors have produce in their warehouses is what makes this event one of the most important, and remarkable Fresh Produce Industry events of Eastern Europe" - says Andriy Yarmak, independent fruit & vegetable business analyst of Ukraine and Russia, who has spoke at two previous conferences. "What started like a Conference just two years has also now evolved into a major Exhibition with around 150 companies expected to exhibit their produce and more than 5,000 expected to visit in 2006. And it is not surprising, as, on top of all of the above-mentioned benefits, costs of the conference as well as costs of the expo space at this event are probably the lowest in Europe, which helps makes it a very efficient event for all participants" - adds Andriy Yarmak.

Detailed information about the Conference and Exhibition is available from the web-site http://www.lol.org.ua/eng/conferences/fv2006/.

To ensure participation in the Conference, please feel out this online application form .

Additional information about the Conference could be received via e-mail ayarmak@lol.org.ua or via the phone +38-044-4821053.

APK-Inform starts publication of series of articles by Elena Balbekova, Senior Associate AGA Partners Law Firm Attorney-at-law, Ukraine

http://www.agalawyers.org/lawyers_eng_eb.htm

Contents

1. Setting up, development and capital outflow issues to be carried out in Ukraine by the foreign investor, legislation pitfalls, and national peculiarities.

1.1. Setting up the business.

1.1.1. Types of companies/business structure to commence the business, company management structure.

1.1.2. Capitalization issues.

1.2. Business activity.

1.2.1. Taxation

1.2.2. Subsequent direct investments in business, domestic profit investments.

1.3. Profit earning

1.3.1. Capital outflow and taxation

1.4. Liquidation/reorganization

Ukraine follows a civil law system, under which the Constitution of Ukraine is the law, which provides the framework for Ukraine's legislative system. The principal structure of legislation consists of laws adopted by Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) and international agreements of Ukraine duly ratified or acceded to by Verkhovna Rada. Laws are implemented through various normative acts, which are adopted by the relevant government bodies (i.e. the President, the Cabinet of Ministers, Ministries and State Committees).

Ukrainian legislation provides that (with some few exceptions). Foreign investors are authorized to carry out their investment activity in Ukraine on the same basis as domestic investors. This relates to types of investments, available investment vehicles, and investment targets.

The Law of Ukraine On Investment Activity, adopted on 18 September 1991, establishes the general principles of investment activity on the territory of Ukraine, irrespective of the nationality of the investor. Certain Peculiarities of making foreign investments in Ukraine are regulated by the Law of Ukraine On the Regime of Foreign Investment (the Foreign Investment Law), adopted on March 19, 1996.

1.1. Setting up the business by the foreign investor in Ukraine.

To start with, the current issue of the present article, taking into account that the legal entity considered is a foreign investor I have to mention that the regime of activity of the companies with foreign investment capital and domestic companies nowadays doesn't differ, since the major purpose of such equality - to level the playing field for all companies on the Ukrainian market, mainly without providing the incentives for a much-needed injection of foreign investment capital.

The legal analysis hereof offer the general options for the foreign non-productive investor, without the conditions precedent, such as the type of economic activity, the major goals of such activity, long duration of the investors' business plans. Therefore the following analysis considers the general conditions for the business startup, its development, financial activity, taxation and major legislative pitfalls, the foreign investor may face while conducting the business activity in Ukraine.

1.1.1. Types of companies/business structure to commence the business, company management structure.

The basic forms of companies are established by the Ukrainian Civil Code (No. 435-IV, dated January 16, 2003, effective January 1, 2004, hereinafter - Civil Code) and Economic Code (No. 436-IV, dated January 16, 2003, effective January 1, 2004, hereinafter - Economic Code) and by the Law of Ukraine "On Economic Associations", therefore the major analysis are made, basing and referring to the above-mentioned basic by-laws, regulating the process of foundation and organization of enterprises in Ukraine.

Civil Code and Economic Code in their most efficient combination provide various types of companies, which are also known as legal entities - organizations, which are established and registered pursuant to the procedure established by law.

The following principal types of companies, certain types among which, present a special interest for us, can be founded in Ukraine:

1. Private enterprises;

2. Collective enterprises;

3. Communal enterprises;

4. State enterprises;

5. Other enterprises, which are provided by law. This "type" of companies, leaves plenty of space to add various types of companies in the future.

Civil and Economic Code, Law of Ukraine "On Economic Associations" govern the types of companies, known as economic associations or corporate enterprises, created as a rule, by two or more founders, pursuant to their mutual agreement, acting on the basis of union of property and/or entrepreneurial or labor activity of the founders (participants), and their mutual administration of affairs on the basis of corporate rights, including via the authorities, which are created thereby, and the participation of the founders (participants) in the division of profits and risks of the enterprise.

Among those companies are:

- Stock companies (Closed Joint - Stock Companies, Open Joint-Stock Company);

- Companies with limited liability;

- Companies with additional liability;

- General partnerships;

- Limited partnerships.

Notwithstanding the range of business structures, offered under Ukrainian law, foreign companies' options in Ukraine are limited to one of the following four alternative business structures:

a.) representative office - which is not a legal entity, however can be either commercial, leading economic activity or non-commercial.

b.) Wholly-owned foreign subsidiary or enterprise - usually with limited liability, which can be provided in their statutory documents.

c.) "joint ventures"- companies with foreign participation - either in form of a closed joint stock company or limited liability company.

Ukrainian legislation permits a foreign investor to conduct business in Ukraine without creating a legal entity by entering into a Joint Activity Agreement with a Ukrainian legal entity.

d.) Agreements on joint cooperation and production, which do not require registration of a separate legal entity.

One significant consideration in selecting the appropriate business structure involves Ukrainian foreign currency legislation, which categorizes the above structures as either non-residents or residents, depending on the type of activities carried out by the structure. Non-commercial representative offices are usually considered "non-residents" under currency regulations and tax legislation, while subsidiaries and joint ventures are classified as residents because they are legal entities, registered and residing in Ukraine for more than 183 days per year. While the distinction is not clearly expressed in other laws, it is significant in terms of tax consequences and the ability of foreign businessmen to effectuate transactions in foreign or local Ukrainian currency.

Both subsidiaries and joint ventures have the status of separate corporate entities, and thus, both limit and investor's liability to its initial investment. As Ukrainian corporate entities, joint ventures and subsidiaries are considered to be "residents" under Ukrainian currency legislation, they are subject to a different financial regime, than "non-residents". For instance, resident companies must transact business in Ukrainian currency only, which has historically shown a disturbing tendency to devaluating and revaluating, thus such instability presents a possibility of impact on the profit earning of the company.

Whereas enterprises may be created for carrying out entrepreneurial activity or non-commercial activity, we are interested in considering in more details such type of enterprises as economic associations, which are created solely for the purpose of profit-generating activity. However, sometimes for reasons of corporate strategy, foreign investors register both structures (non-resident representative office and wholly-owned resident company), to give them greater flexibility in performing transactions in foreign and Ukrainian currency. In item 1.2. hereof we are going to analyze in greater details the possibilities of financial operations.

Let's review the general characteristics of the above-listed legal entities, as for the better understanding of their business structure, so for the possibility to choose the most convenient for establishing and profit earning.

A.) A representative office of a foreign company is not a separate legal entity, but is considered to be a "representative" of a foreign company in the other country, being not incorporated under Ukrainian law, which simply represents the interests of a foreign legal entity on Ukrainian territory. Those offices are subject to a special financial regime under tax laws. The key function of such non-resident representative offices is to service existing contracts between the non-resident company and a Ukrainian customer, but not to engage in commercial activities on its own behalf. This arrangement legally allows the non-resident company to earn foreign currency abroad while expanding its market area in Ukraine.

On one hand, one has to admit a certain advantage of the representative office of a foreign company in Ukraine, over a Ukrainian company: the ability to legally earn foreign currency and to keep it abroad. On the other hand, it has its drawbacks either: it can enter into contracts only on behalf of the parent company, cannot carry out sales in Ukrainian currency, and hire full-time employees without registration with the relevant government agency.

B.) Wholly-owned foreign subsidiaries and joint ventures are usually organized in the form of either closed joint-stock companies or limited liability companies, correspondingly depending on the particular requirements of the project.

Whereas in the conditions precedent, I didn't receive the detailed description of the projects, for the purposes of which the current legal opinion is composed, therefore the analysis below contain the review of both business forms of wholly - owned foreign subsidiaries as both "residents" under the Ukrainian currency and tax regulations and, both having the liability of founders and shareholders being limited only to the value of their contributions to the company and therefore considered more adequate form of business structure for foreign investor. Several differences exist between these types of companies. For example, in a limited liability company, the founders own equity in the company (or in the statutory capital of the company, formed by the contribution of the equities by the founders or by the founder), expressed by a percentage of ownership. Joint-stock company issues a share of stock, to be purchased by the founders and consequently form the statutory capital of the company. According to the Economic Code and the Law "On Economic Associations" a stock company requires at least two founders, which may be either legal entities or individuals. However Article 154 of the Civil Code states that "a joint stock company may be created by one entity or may consist of one entity in case of the acquisition by shareholder of all shares of the company". Limited liability company is allowed to be founded by a sole founder, however according to the Civil Code it may not have another business company as its sole participant if such company has only one participant/shareholder in its shareholding. The management structure of a stock company and that of a limited liability company is very similar with a few minor variations. The three-part structure is headed by the "general assembly of shareholders (in limited liability company - "general assembly of participants"), which represents the interests of the company owners. The next level, "the supervisory council" - is optional in both types of enterprises; however it is commonly organized in the stock company structures, but smaller companies tend to disregard it. And, finally, Management board ("Executive board"), performs the company's day-to-day functions.

In practice, simple joint venture or 100% foreign-owned companies usually register in the form of Limited Liability Company. This company structure allows a relatively small number of people to avoid a complex multi-layered management structure composed of a general assemble, supervisory council and management organs and to avoid registration of shares of stock. It is particularly attractive in cases of 100% foreign-owned companies because the charter can provide for one executive organ where the founder has complete and unequivocal control.

1.1.2. Capitalization issues.

The Law "On Economic Associations" governs the formation of joint stock companies and limited liability companies, and contains no limitations on the size of statutory capital for joint stock companies, provided however that the company's statutory capital is divided into shares of stock of equal nominal value. The Law "On the Foreign Investment Regime" only encourages large amounts of foreign investment in all shapes and sizes. Accordingly, a joint stock company may have as large a statutory capital, as it wishes.

The minimum capitalization for registration of joint stock company is 1, 250 minimum monthly salaries, while the minimum statutory capital of Limited Liability Company must be at least 100 minimum monthly salaries. By the Law of Ukraine "On making amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On the State budget for the year 2006" the minimum monthly salary from the July 1, 2006, as it is actual for the current analysis, is established on the of UAH 375. Any Ukrainian and/or foreign investor is permitted to register a company subject to these absolute minimum.

As a result of recently enacted decree of the National Bank of Ukraine, a foreign investor may make cash contributions into a Ukrainian legal entity only through special investment accounts opened by the foreign investor with a Ukrainian commercial bank (as opposed to the transferring funds from abroad directly to the bank account of its Ukrainian subsidiary as was previously the case).

Shareholders of stock companies and founders in limited liability companies must make initial pre-registration deposits towards their contributions prior to registration. According to the Law "On Economic Associations", 50% of a shareholder's contribution must be paid prior to registration if shares are originally distributed amongst the founders of a joint stock company (30% if shares a re distributed via an open subscription - for open joint stock companies. In limited liability companies, however, the legislation is still unsettled as the Law "On Economic Associations" calls for a 30% of a participant's contribution to be paid by the moment of state registration of a company, while a Civil Code requires 50% of a participants contribution to be paid prior to registration. In practice, since Civil Code is higher up than laws in the hierarchy of Ukrainian legislation, I believe, that the 50% rule governs. However, changes to the Law "On Economic Associations" are widely expected in the near future. The remaining sum must be paid, in its entirety, no later than one year after registration of both types o companies. In joint stock companies, shares of stock may be given to the shareholder only after they have fully paid for such shares. Note, that the founders may not circumvent these rules in the statute by providing, for instance, that the joint stock company may hold authorized but unissued stock for more than one year.

Foreign investors have the right to invest by using the following forms:

" hard currency

" Ukrainian currency as a re-investment into the existing or a newly established enterprise;

" any movable or immovable property and property rights connected with it;

" shares, bonds, other securities and other corporate rights;

" monetary claims and claims under contracts, valued in a hard currency and guaranteed by first rank banks;

" any intellectual property rights with confirmed estimation in hard currency according to the laws of the investor's country of residence, including copyrights, trademarks, firm names, know-how, and others;

" rights in respect of economic activities, including exploration and utilisation of natural resources valued in hard currency and conferred and valued under the laws of the investor's resident country.

Foreign investment can be executed in the form of contribution of fixed assets in return for a share in the statutory capital of a Ukrainian company. These assets shall be valued in both foreign convertible and Ukrainian currency by agreement between the parties, based on International or Ukrainian market prices and using the applicable exchange rate of the National Bank of Ukraine. Please note that under current Ukrainian legislation foreign investment in kind is exempted from VAT and import duties. However, if the goods contributed are subject to excise duties, the exemption from VAT and import duties does not apply. If the investment is disposed of within 3 years from the moment of registering a foreign investment in the books of the Ukrainian entity, all the relevant import duties will be due. Finalizing the item 1.1. herein, there is a need to mention that certain issues, such as: state registration of the company, details in the management structure organization, special requirements to the capitalization, management structure and type of company, depending on the type of economic activity, reputed to be carried by the foreign investor, are omitted on purpose. The purpose of such omission is, whereas, the present article has generally to be focused on the issues which are of the greatest interest for the investor. Describing the issues herein, the purpose is to give an overview of the corporate legislation and current situation on business set up in Ukraine. Subsequently, certain issues, being specified by the investor, shall be reviewed in a greater detail.

To be continued…

On June 5, 2006 the issue #500 of information-analytical weekly “APK-Inform” was published.

Probably for some people it is only good round figure. For the body of agency working on the weekly for almost 10 years, for constant subscribers and partners of agency “APK-Inform” it is a certain point. For these years the specialists of APK-Inform have accumulated invaluable experience and knowledge and every week they share them with the subscribers providing the information in the form of markets reviews, statistics, analytics and articles of current importance.

Today’s event stands in one line with the 10th anniversary of the APK-Inform agency which we would celebrate on the 1st of November 2006, and with the jubilee branch conferences: 5th International conference "Grain Industry. Grain Forum", that ended two weeks ago, and 5th International conference for specialists of oil branch that would be held in November.

Despite such a holiday period the body of the agency will work actively in the field of information, work on the new topics and directions that are most interesting for the participants of agrarian market.

Congratulations to all our readers, site visitors, partners and friends with the beginning of jubilee season for APK-Inform!

Wish all of you success in business, life energy and new achievements – together with us!

Sincerely yours,

Body of "APK-Inform"

If you have any questions regarding subscription, please, feel free to contact Foreign Markets Department:

E-mail: ozip@agrimarket.info

Tel: +38 0562 320795, +74957894419

After two self-provided seasons Ukraine can decrease the export volumes of some crops and can face necessity of their import in 2006/07 MY, due to lower harvest compared to the previous years.

In 2006 areas planted with winter crops sharply dropped due to dry weather. Historical minimum for sowing of wheat and rye was observed this MY. Only areas under barley were increased a bit as compared to the previous year. Frosts in the end of January caused damage of weak sows. Nevertheless, in addition to decreasing of areas under winter crops, we should be ready to their more significant damage than 2 last years.

Due to seeds cutting in 2006 we forecast increasing of spring sowings share. We are expecting total area spring crops about 9.1 mln ha, up 18 % a year ago.

As for foreign trade prospects of main grain crops in 2006/07 MY:

- Wheat export of 5.7 mln tones due to excessive supply in the current year. To date the total export wheat volumes is 5 mln tones. In new 2006/07 MY we expect not only export decreasing to 2.5 mln tons but also wheat importing. Our estimation for wheat import is 1 mln tons.

- Barley export decreasing due to gross yield drop. We forecast barley export in 2006/07 MY is 3.6 mln tons. To date total barley export reached 3.3 mln tons. In the next season export will increase to 4 mln tons due to producing growth expectations.

- Maize export is expected at 2.4 mln tons. For passed 6 months of maize season (October-March) total export hardly reached 2 mln tons. We forecast total supply decreasing which will lead to export drop to 1.8 mln tons.

Wheat (thsd/tonnes, thsd/ha) 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06* 2006/07* Opening stock 60 30 60 50 13 Gross 197 100 398 283 0 Import 0 0 0 0 1 000 Total Offer 257 131 459 333 1 013 Consumption 0 0 0 0 11 000 Export 4 180 6 875 8 867 7 167 2 500 Closing stock 21 13 14 13 -12 487 Total Distribution 4 201 6 888 8 881 7 180 1 013   Barley (thsd/tonnes, thsd/ha) 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06* 2006/07* Opening stock 130 250 360 340 2 Gross 117 85 1 426 986 0 Import 0 0 0 0 4 Total Offer 247 335 1 786 1 326 6 Consumption 0 0 0 0 6 000 Export 613 371 636 616 4 000 Closing stock 1 1 1 2 -9 994 Total Distribution 614 372 637 618 6   Maize (thsd/tonnes, thsd/ha) 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06* 2006/07* Opening stock 30 30 30 30 1 Gross 43 37 96 39 0 Import 0 0 0 0 13 Total Offer 73 67 127 69 14 Consumption 0 0 0 0 5 250 Export 209 311 294 275 1 800 Closing stock 1 1 0 1 -7 036 Total Distribution 210 312 294 276 14

Dear Journalists!

Ahroohlyad: Vegetables and Fruits journal and Expocenter of Ukraine National Complex kindly invite you to attend the opening of the exhibition "Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2005". This is the largest international exhibition-conference in CIS. Two press conferences for journalists will be held immediately after the opening ceremony.

The conference will open December 5, 2005 at 12:00 p.m., in pavilion #9, at the Expocenter of Ukraine National Complex, 1, Academician Glushkov prospect. Following the opening, registered journalists will be invited to participate in the press conference in pavilion #7.

This event shall be of interest to the majority of mass media representatives, because:

- The fruit and vegetable market size exceeded 50% of the grain market for the first time this year and continues growing rapidly.

- Fruit and vegetable production is of high social importance and it can help the government solve the rural employment problem.

- This industry is the most profitable in Ukrainian agriculture; it is thought to attract more than US $ 4 billion investments in the next 5 years.

Expected participants in the first press-conference include: Jury Melnik, Vice-prime Minister of Ukraine on Agriculture, Ivan Tomich, Chief, Association of Farmers and Private Land Owners of Ukraine, Garry Linden, Director of Economic Development Department, USA Agency of International Development (USAID), Asad Lapsh, the Director of Agrimatco Company (Ukraine) and Anatoly Skorchenko, Director of Expocentre of Ukraine National Complex. The press conference will be dedicated to the strategic perspectives of the produce business development in Ukraine.

Leading independent experts of the produce market in Ukraine and representatives of technical assistance projects will participate in the second press conference as they have deeply studied the perspectives of produce market. Social importance of the produce market will also be touched upon in the second press conference; this sphere is rather labor consuming and very profitable. Presentations about exclusive estimation of the actual size of the produce market, self-efficiency for some products, and investment opportunities for produce the business will be presented to public.

The journalists will also have an opportunity to talk to the participants of the second international conference "Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2005". One hundred twenty of the largest and the most successful fruit and vegetable producers of our country, as well as well-known trade companies and supermarket chains, canneries and other processing enterprises, input suppliers, other produce market experts from 15 countries will be represented at the conference. More than 400 people are expected to take part in the event, indicating it will be one of the largest forums of produce business professionals in Eastern Europe. You can find the list of participants at here. You can visit the international produce exhibition.

All journalists who register to participate in the press conference will obtain informative handout materials about produce business, press-releases in electronic and hardcopies, the unique produce business surveys conducted by the Agricultural Marketing Project, photos and other useful information.

Do not miss a unique opportunity to get the utmost information in one event!

Journalists' registration is obligatory to participate in the press conferences. This can be done on the 1st and 2nd of December 2005 in Kyiv per tel: (044) 239-93-74, fax (044)278-35-60 or e-mail victoriya@apk-inform.com

Contact person is Victoria Oleynik.

The idea of the event entitled "Grain Trading Summit: CIS and Arabic Countries…", which is to be jointly held by APK-Inform and Russian Grain Union in February next year in Egypt, was favourably met by grain and oilseed trading and processing companies in the Arabian world.

Among the first registered participants of the event there is MidGulf International from Jordan - a large trader of agricultural products (mainly, wheat) and fertilisers. The company, established in 1976, has now four representative offices and trades with 30 countries of the world, including Russia. According to the company's Grains & Food Commodities Manager Tony Mudallal, the event may help significantly improve the position of grain from Black Sea region on the markets of Middle East and North Africa.

Another company which has expressed its wish to participate in the Summit is Egyptian Mediterraneo - a major importer of grains and pulses and a sugar trader. Mediterraneo was one of the first to start cooperating with Russian and Ukrainian companies and considers the market of CIS region to be one of the most promising.

Also among the participants of Summit there is Egypt's large agro-industrial business Wadi Holdings, which seeks to expand imports of maize and sunflower meal for production of feeds.

Those interested in the Summit or willing to participate, please, refer to APK-Inform Foreign Markets Department, t./f. +38 0562 320795, Ms. Svetlana Spitskaya or Ms. Svetlana Sinkovskaya.

Both in Ukraine and Russia the post harvest handling (PHH) of fruits and vegetables has become a major factor allowing the agricultural producers and trade companies increase their profit. Non-packed, dirty and not graded produce meets less demand among the consumers and is poorly stored; however, applying the elements of PHH technologies, the producers are often able to sell the produce 1.5-2 times dearer than their competitors.

That's why the PHH practices, and also modern storage and packing will be in focus of the special attention during the second international conference "Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 0255" to be held in Kyiv on December 5th-7th 2005. The importance of this theme in the framework of the conference is confirmed by the sponsorship of Rusbana Engineering company, one of the hugest in CIS suppliers of the solutions for PHH, grading and packing of the produce.

To the opinion of the specialists of the Agricultural Marketing Project, the demand on the equipment for PHH, washing, grading and packing of fruits and vegetables exceeds the supply right now in Ukraine. Next year the demand level may grow considerably, so that the need for the qualified consulting service will increase respectively on purpose to develop the optimal solutions for PHH and packing of fruits and vegetables. Rusbana Engineering company is ready to provide such services as one of the leaders on Russian market. Besides, the company offers a wide range of equipment and packing materials for the effective business-solutions in the producer sector.

The specialists of Rusbana Engineering company were trained abroad in the specialized training centers and the enterprises, so that the company is able to provide a wide spectrum of the professional services on the European level. You can get information about the products and services of the company, its seeing of the PHH and packing market development in CIS; the specialists of the company are also ready to communicate with you during the second international conference "Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2005".

Specialised session "Palm oil: its economic and technological advantages" will be held within the framework of 4th International Conference "Oilseed Industry 2005", scheduled by APK-Inform Agribusiness Information Company for November 15-16 in Kiev. The session will be sponsored by Malaysian Palm Oil Board. Presentations at the session are expected to be made by leading industry professionals from Malaysia, EU, Russia and Ukraine and will be related to modern state-of-the-art technologies of palm oil usage in various industry branches as well as economic prospects of palm oil on the global market.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board is Malaysia's state-run agency, playing a leading role in development of palm oil farming and production technologies in the country and representing the industry on a worldwide scale.

To know more about format and topics of the session and the body of presenters, please, call +38 0562 320795, Ms. Svetlana Spitskaya or Ms. Svetlana Sinkovskaya; APK-Inform Foreign Markets Department.

We are glad to inform that Agency APK-Inform, the leading agribusiness information and consulting agency, brings out to the market new informational product - Agrimarket Weekly (Russia-Ukraine-CIS) which is to the market the updated version of our well-known product - Ukrainian Agrimarket Weekly Report.

Now in every issue you will find:

" Agrinews ( Russia, Ukraine and CIS)

" Crops and Weather

" Grain markers reports ( Russia, Ukraine)

" Oilseeds markers reports ( Russia, Ukraine)

" Foreign trade, Port shipments

" Analytics (crop balances, forecasts)

" Offers and bids

" Comparative price data

Terms of the subscription: for 1-2 months - $90 per month; 3 to 5 months subscription - $80 per month; 6 to 11 months subscription - $70 per month; 12 months and more - $60 per month. We remind you of free bonuses for the subscribers of Agrimarket Weekly:

" Discounts for subscription for other magazines and for advertising.

" Discounts for participation in International Conferences held by APK-Inform (Grain Industry, Oilseed Industry, Fruit and Vegetable).

" Consulting (agroindustrial complex of Russia and Ukraine), finding CIS partners

" Full access to www.agrimarket.info

We will guide you through agrarian sector of CIS!

For subscription please contact spitskaya@apk-inform.com , +38 0562 320795 Svetlana Spitskaya

Ukraine is one of the main competitors of Argentina on the global agricultural market. This fact explains interest of Argentinean companies to Ukraine. Besides, Argentineans are interested in developing their business in the countries with promising markets of agricultural products.

That is why the prominent agricultural consulting company Agropuerto in Argentina decided to organize the first international conference "Global Agribusiness Outlook 2005". The conference was attended by the prominent independent experts from USA, Argentina, Brazil, China, EU etc.

The honour to represent Ukraine during this event was awarded to APK-Inform.

The most vivid interest of Argentinean companies was stimulated by the possibility of doing cattle breeding business in Ukraine and trade with meat in the internal and foreign markets. Also they would invest in sunflower and soybean growing in Ukraine, but their intentions calmed down after knowing about GMO soybean growing prohibition in Ukraine.

Information and analytical company APK-Inform became a sole information partner of GASC (General Authority for Supplying Commodities), the main state grain importer of Egypt, for CIS countries. Before that the only information partner of GASC was well-known agency Reuters.

Getting the status of a partner of the main purchasing body of Egypt gives APK-Inform the right to receive first-hand information about grain tenders held by GASC.

Please find tender details at www.apk-inform.com or contact us by e-mail spitskaya@apk-inform.com.

Edited in the US WORLD GRAIN journal has become one of the informational sponsors of the Conference "Ukrainian Grain Forum. Grain Industry-2005".

WORLD GRAIN is the only internationally distributed periodical for grain market and grain industry professionals, ranging from flour millers to grain traders. Its audience is represented by 54,000 subscribers from 125 countries of the world.

The other informational sponsors of the Conference are:

- Bulletin "Agrobusiness and Food Industry" (Russia). One of the most massively distributed industry periodicals, circulated by free target-oriented distribution among agro-industrial businesses of Russia (77 percent of circulation) and almost in 60 countries of the world. Monthly circulation is 45,000 copies;

- Web-server www.zol.ru - one of the leading Russian web-resources, devoted to agricultural subject matter (about 1,500 visits per day);

- Ukrainian Universal Exchange - one of the largest exchanges of Ukraine, a co-editor of "Birzhevoy Vestnik" (Exchange Herald) daily, the circulation of which is more than 20,000 copies.

The Conference "Ukrainian Grain Forum. Grain Industry-2005" will be held in Kiev on May 11-13. For more information about the Conference, click here.

The 4th International Conference "Ukrainian Grain Forum. Grain Industry-2005" will be held on May 11-13 in Kiev.

The event, which has become traditional, this year will acquire new format. The Conference will consist of two topical blocks - market and technological one. Market issues will be studied within the frame of "Ukrainian Grain Forum", the technological ones - at "Grain Industry-2005".

"Ukrainian Grain Forum" will be held on May 11-12 in Ukrainian House (Ukrainsky Dom). Its target audience is trading firms, transportation and forwarding companies, banks, surveying companies.

"Grain Industry-2005" will be held on May 13 in Pavilion 1 of National Exhibition Complex "Expo Centre of Ukraine". Its target audience will be grain milling companies, producers and dealers of equipment for grain storage and processing industry, etc. The Conference organisers are APK-Inform and Expo Centre of Ukraine. According to tradition, the technological module of the Conference will be held within the framework of National Exhibition "Khlebprom-2005" (Bread Industry-2005), held on May 11-13 in Pavilion 3 of the Expo Centre.

For detailed information about the Conference, forms and conditions of participation, please, call to APK-Inform Marketing Department: +38 0562 320795 or +7 095 7894419. To see the schedule, the terms and cost of participation, click here.

APK-Inform Agribusiness Information Company brings to the market an updated version of its English-language informational product “Ukrainian Agrimarket Weekly Report”.

The renovated product is featured by:

- more relevant informational content and more logical organisational structure;

- better and more flexible pricing system:

       1-2 months - $90 per month,

       3 to 5 month subscription - $80 per month,

       6 to 11 month subscription - $70 per month,

       12 months and more - $60 per month + additional bonus;

- a new design.

The free bonuses for the subscribers of Ukrainian Agrimarket Weekly Report will include:

1. Discounts for subscription for other magazines and for advertising;

2. Discounts for participation in International Conferences held by APK-Inform (Grain Industry, Oilseed Industry, Fruit and Vegetable);

3. Free consulting on the issues of agro-industrial complex of Russia and Ukraine

4. Full access to www.agrimarket.info;

5. Assistance in finding business partners in Ukraine and Russia.

For more information, please, contact spitskaya@apk-inform.com

+38 0562 320795 Svetlana Spitskaya

A leading supplier of tropical oils to Ukraine and one of the largest suppliers of palm oil products to CIS countries - Dutch company TRADEPOINT has taken on responsibility to be organiser of the session "Tropical Oils on the Markets of CIS Countries" at the 3rd International Conference "Oilseed Industry: Current State, Prospects, Technologies" to be held by our company in Kiev on November 4-5.

TRADEPOINT LOGISTICS B.V., Netherlands is engaged in agricultural commodities trading and specialises in vegetable oils.

Considerable share of the company's activities takes place with counterparts from Eastern Europe and therefore in order to increase efficiency of operations with consumers and suppliers from this region, in 2001 an official representation office was established in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.

TRADEPOINT buys crude sunflower oil, sunflower meal, and different grains in Ukraine and Eastern European countries and ships these commodities by sea and railway to consumers in a number of world regions.

TRADEPOINT supplies to Ukraine and other countries of Eastern Europe (Russia, Belarus, Bulgaria, etc.) tropical oils (palm oil, palm olein, palm stearin, palm kernel oil, coconut oil, palm fatty acids), as well as palm-based specialty fats and additives.

TRADEPOINT LOGISTICS effects shipments of palm products in accordance with rules of FOSFA (Federation of Oils, Seeds and Fats Associations), PORAM, MEOMA, INCOTERMS. The deliveries mostly take place by direct tankers through Black Sea ports Ilychevsk, Odessa, Burgas on CIF basis, as well as by railway to the border (DAF) and directly all the way to the consumer's plant.

Those interested in participation in the Conference or its sponsorship, please, refer to APK-Inform Marketing Service: +38 0562 320795, e-mail: market@apk-inform.com.

Established in 1989 WJ Grain Company, which is now a leader in the agricultural trade community and a prominent advocate of free markets, privatisation and market reforms in the countries of the CIS, has become the General Sponsor 3rd International Conference "Oilseed Industry: Current State, Prospects, Technologies" to be held by our company in Kiev on November 4-5 this year.

Since 1989, WJ has catapulted from its status as an unknown start-up to one of the most reputable, visible and trustworthy names in the agricultural commodities business. Today WJ is one of the largest exporters and processors of grain and oilseed products from the countries of the CIS and Eastern Europe. Stringent quality control of its products make it very competitive in the world markets.

Celebrating this year its 15th anniversary, the company strives to keep its position as the leading exporter and processor of grains and oilseeds in the CIS countries. Becoming the General Sponsor of our Conference, the company makes another effort in confirming its stable market position in Ukraine and the CIS region.

Those interested in sponsorship or participation in the Conference, please, refer to APK-Inform Marketing Service: +38 0562 320795, e-mail: market@apk-inform.com.

Following the numerous requests of the Third International Conference Grain Industry-2004 Participants, the organiser of the Conference - APK-Inform Agribusiness Information Company - introduces a business partner search system:

- a notice-board will be installed in the conference hall, where every Participant will be able to place the information aiming at localising representatives of the company the Participant is looking for;

- you can set a meeting with the companies` representatives at the Conference right now, sending an application form with indication of the names of companies you would like to meet and their representatives, the aim of the meeting, the desired place and time of the meeting, and your contacts.

Please send your application forms to the APK-Inform Marketing Department:

tel/fax: +38 0562 320795, e-mail: market@apk-inform.com.

The application forms will be transmitted to the addressees.

We hope our service will help you set new business contacts or strengthen the already existing ones.

Attention of subscribers for Ukrainian Agrimarket Weekly Report: because of a public holiday in Ukraine the next issue of the report (U.A.W.R. No. 17, 2004) will come out on Sunday, May 9, 2004.

Within the framework of the 3rd International Conference "Grain Industry-2004" our company will hold a round table discussion, dealing with the issues of timely and reliable estimation of agricultural crop collections in Ukraine.

Currently such estimations are usually based on the output information, coming directly from agricultural producers, which is received and processed by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and the State Statistics Committee. Besides, on the basis of the data of research stations, the estimations are made by agricultural research institutions and weather centre. On certain reasons, the estimations, originated from different sources, quite frequently differ from each other rather greatly, and the official estimations are often criticised for being inadequate to the actual state of affairs.

The round table meeting, however, will aim not at comparing the actual and forecast data of different sources, but at discussing the possibilities of obtaining more reliable results, with lesser values of error. The subjects for discussion will be the existing and alternative methods and techniques of obtaining information about crops, with the special emphasis to advanced technologies, including space photography. This method of land and crops monitoring is being successfully used in some developed countries, providing farming specialists with sufficiently precise and complete information. Our country has competent professionals in this method of research and unique procedures of analysing the data from satellites, which can be applied already now for obtaining most valuable information about agricultural crops. The problems, however, are lack of coordinated activities of different specialists and underestimation of the issue on the state level. Therefore, we have invited to the meeting specialists from the Agrarian Policy Ministry, the State Statistics Committee, the weather centre, the Research Institute for Grain, the Geographical Research Institute, the Aerospace Agency and company "Dneprkosmos". We are also inviting professionals and analysts from major grain producing, grain trading and insurance companies and banks to take part in the discussion.

As of this day, more than 60 companies have registered to participate in the Conference, among which there are major Ukrainian bread products enterprises and trading firms, Russian grain trading companies (representatives of Russian Grain Union), logistic companies, manufacturers of processing equipment. Geography of the participants expands as well. Apart from representatives of Ukraine and NIS countries, companies from Italy, Egypt, Germany and Poland have shown their interest to the event.

Among the sponsors of the Conference there will be companies Well Grain, Loture, W.J. Grain Ltd, Voskhod, Melibor, SGS Ukraine and others.

Those interested in participation, please, refer to APK-Inform Marketing Department, phone/fax +38 0562320795, e-mail market@apk-inform.com.

There are 168 companies and organisations, which have registered to participate in the Conference as of the day. The applications have been submitted by the following participants:

Ukraine:

APK-Inform Agribusiness Information Company (Organising Committee Member)

Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine (Organising Committee Member)

Oilseed Industry Association "Ukroliyaprom" (Organising Committee Member)

Ukrainian Research Institute for Oils and Fats (Scientific Support)

Azovskaya Food Company (Sponsor)

Industrial Group KMT (Sponsor)

Dnepropetrovsk Oil Extraction Plant (Sponsor)

Pologhi Oil Extraction Plant (Sponsor)

SGS-Ukraine (Exclusive Partner)

Newspaper "Produkty Pitaniya" (General Informational Sponsor)

Journal "Agroperspektiva" (Informational Sponsor)

Publishing House "Pishchevaya Promyshlennost" (Informational Sponsor)

Ukrainian Financial Server (Informational Sponsor)

Agrobrok (Informational Sponsor)

Ukragroconsult (Informational Sponsor)

Maslo.org (Informational Sponsor)

Oilworld.ru (Informational Sponsor)

Ivano-Frankovsk Research Institute of Agro-Industrial Production

Research Institute of Grain Management

Research Institute of Oilseed Crops

Research Institute of Selection and Genetics

Louis Dreyfus Negoce (Ukrainian Office)

FLAS & K

GFK-USM-Ukraine

Umekos B.V. (Ukrainian Office)

Bank "Aval"

AVIS

Agro LI

Agrokosm

Agromir

Agro-Oliya

Agropererabotka

Agroteks

Alfred S. Toepfer International Ukraine

Better

BSI Inspectorate Ukraine

Bonafidet

Bureau Veritas Ukraine

Vinnitsa Oil & Fat Combine

Vista

Vulkaskot-Ukraine

Hermes-Trading

Eurotech

Zaporozhye Oil & Fat Combine

Modified Fats Plant

Grain Trading Company

Cargill AT

Karlovka Machine-Building Plant

Kirovogradoliya

Likhov A. V.

Marg West

Melitopol Oil Extraction Plant

Mironovskiy Khleboprodukt

Multicom-holding

Nezhin Fat Combine

Novokontakt

Odessa Fruit Stone Oils Plant

Odessa Oil & Fat Combine

Palamarchuk Yu. A.

Pioneer Semena Ukraine

Polimash

Polstar

Radema

Sady Ukrainy

Salus Plus

Sun Grain

Suntrade

Sunflo

Service

Serna

Slavoliya

Smela Machine-Building Plant

SMS

Solnechnye Semena

Vegetable Oils Plant "Streletskaya Steppe"

Siayvo

Time

Terminal-Ukrpishchezbytsyryo

Technolog

Trading House "Streletskaya Steppe"

Transinvestservice

Tradepoint Commodities B.V.

Troitsky Oil-Pressing Plant

Ukrimpex

UkrOliya

Khimterstilmash

Chernovtsy Oil & Fat Combine

Chumak

Yugas

Russia:

Fat & Oil Union of Russia

International Centre of Scientific and Technical Information

Romaco B.V.

Antorg Vostok

APIK EFKO

Volgograd Mustard Oil Crushing Plant "Sarepta"

Helio-Paks

Nizhni Novgorod Oil & Fat Combine

Noble Resources (Russian Office)

Prodrusreserv

Rusagro-Maslo

Trading House "Yug Russi"

Trading House "Aurora"

Utios-Invest

Engelhard Ltd.

Belarus:

Holding "Dainova"

State Company "Sodruzhestvo"

Moldova:

Floarea Soarelui

Lithuania:

Linas & Visa

Poland:

Semi

Slovenia:

Euromix

Germany:

Sud Hemi

Cimbria SKET

Netherlands:

Amafilter B.V.

Switzerland:

Oleotrading S.A.

USA:

World Minerals

If you wish to offer for sale or to bid for agricultural products in the market of Ukraine or CIS countries, you have a unique opportunity to place your commercial proposal free of charge on our Russian-language site www.apk-inform.com, and in printed weekly price-lists supplement to APK-Inform journal "Spros i Predlozhenie" (Supply & Demand)

You will thus have a 100 percent target audience in Ukraine and CIS, interested in buying your products or in selling what you are interested in. Our Russian-language site on average enjoys some 5,000 visits a day and the price-lists supplement "Spros i Predlozhenie" is each Monday distributed to more than 350 companies in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and other fSU countries, involved in production, processing and trading agricultural products.

In order that your offer or bid be placed, you should send a short text in English to uawr@apk-inform.com, with specification of the name and short characteristic of your product (grade, class, the country of origin, etc.), the price in US dollars per unit, the amount, the terms and period of delivery (i.e. CIF-Odessa, DAF-Hungarian border, early August, etc.), the name and contact information of your company.

If you wish that your proposal stay on site or in the supplement for several weeks, you should confirm or edit it each week by any way, convenient to you (e-mail, fax, telephone).

Let us remind you once again: all our services for translation and placements of your commercial proposals are completely free of charge. We are looking forward to your offers and bids.

Thanks to dynamically growing rate of visits on the web-site www.apk-inform.com, the efficiency of placing advertisements on this site is also increasing. Last month the site for the first time showed more than 100,000 pages and banners, placed on these pages. Thus, the maximal cost of 1,000 showings constituted $2 or about 10.5 hryvnias. The target audience of the site, which is the origin of 90 percent of the visits, remains to be the former Soviet Union countries - Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Belarus. Relatively large number of the visitors is located in Germany, Israel, Austria and Poland.

If you are an exporter or just entering the foreign markets, then placing an ad on the site www.agrimarket.info, you will show it to visitors from 70 countries of the world in a month.

Thus, placing a banner on our site for one month, you will get up to 2,000 passages onto your site. And if your commercial proposal is interesting enough, these 2,000 passages may turn into 1,000 clients. And you will have this for just 1,100 to 1,500 hryvnias per month! This is to compare with advertising in a special journal, which will cost at least 10,000 to 11,000 hryvnias, not guaranteeing larger efficiency though. Besides, having placed a banner on www.apk-inform.com, you will be proud that your ad is placed on the most popular agrarian web-resource of Ukraine.

By the decision of Russian Grain Union's Board of Directors of May 23,2003, Information Agency APK-Inform is granted membership in this organisation and put on the register of its members.

APK-Inform has been cooperating with Russian Grain Union in the field of market information exchange for several years. The Union provided support to International Conferences, organised by our agency - "Technologies and Marketing in Bread Products Industry" (Kiev, May 14-15, 2002) and "Grain Industry-2003" (Kiev, May 14-15, 2003).

APK-Inform Information Consulting Company, largest US based agricultural and food cooperative Land O’Lakes, Inc., well-known US consulting company Sparks Companies, Inc. and other partners have been chosen today to implement USAID technical assistance project "Agricultural Market Project".

The Project is aimed to improve marketing of agricultural products, produced by small and medium commercial family farmers. The ultimate goal of the project is to create conditions for high income of rural population. Under the Project APK-Inform will be responsible for providing high quality timely market information and carrying out of market studies jointly with experts from Sparks Companies, Inc. Prime focus of our activity will be at the fruits and vegetables market information as well as at information about markets of animal produce. It is planned that the Project will be working in six oblasts of Ukraine.

On May 14-15, 2003 Kiev will host the Second International Conference "Grain Industry-2003", organised by agribusiness information company "APK-Inform", research and technological journal "Khraneniye i Pererabotka Zerna" ("Storage and Processing of Grain") and National Expo-Centre of Ukraine, and sponsored by OJSC "Karlivka Machine-Building Plant" (Poltava region) and company "Well Grain" (Kiev).

The Conference Schedule:

Wednesday, May 14

• 09:30-12:00 Conference participants registration

• 12:00-12:05 Opening ceremony

• 12:00-13:45 Session 1: Grain Market in the 2002/03 Season

• 14:30-16:00 Session 2: The 2003 Crop Outlook

• 16:15-17:45 Session 3: Grain Industry Equipment and Machinery

• 19:00 Social programme

Thursday, May 15

• 10:00-12:00 Session 4: Functioning of Grain Market

• 12:15-13:30 Session 5: Grain Domestic Consumption

• 14:15-16:00 Session 6: Grain Export Potential from Black Sea Region

• 16:30 Reception in Honour of the Conference Participants

For more information about the Conference programme, conditions of participation and to fill in the Registration Form, click here.

Starting from this week the English-language informational bulletin "Ukrainian Agrimarket Weekly Report" will feature a new topical section - "Analytics & Statistics"

Each weekly issue will be supplemented with either an analytical or a statistical review. Crop, production and export/import forecasts of major agricultural commodities and products, supply/demand balances and statistical reports will be supported by estimated or actual numerical data, collected into summary tables.

You are welcome to subscribe for Ukrainian Agrimarket Weekly Report, now featuring more information for the same price.

Our company and administration of the web-project welcomes your suggestions concerning improvement of the information bulletin "Ukrainian Agrimarket Weekly Report" and the web-site. Which new sections would you like to see? What new information on agricultural markets of Ukraine and fSU countries would you like to receive? What are you satisfied/dissatisfied with concerning coverage and quality of the information, provided by our company and web-site. We would be grateful for any notes or suggestions of yours.

Since February 3, 2003, APK-Inform has changed the price for its only English-language periodical, entitled "Ukrainian Agrimarket Weekly Report". The new price is US$90 per month (formerly - US$100). Additionally, a 5 percent discount is offered in case of a half-yearly subscription, a 10 percent discount - for a yearly subscription.

There has been also provided a possibility to subscribe on-line.

The competitive advantage of this English-language informational product, containing weekly reviews of Ukraini