PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS BY AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS: STATUS, OBSTACLES TO DEVELOPMENT AND PROCESSING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS BY AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS: STATUS, OBSTACLES TO DEVELOPMENT AND WAYS TO OVERCOME THEM

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the state of agricultural product processing in general and by agro-holding structures in particular, to determine the consequences of the raw material trap, obstacles to its development, and ways to eliminate them. The study was conducted on the basis of analysis and synthesis, empirical, abstract-logical and ecosystem approaches, systematization and generalization, statistical and graphical methods. As a result of the investigation, it was found that product processing has not become a priority activity for most agroholdings. The correctness of the logic of the Government Law No. 4536 of July 16, 2025 on the introduction of a 10% export duty on soybeans and rapeseed for trading companies that did not have their own crops of these crops was confirmed. An increase in the share of sown areas of legumes among small producers was observed; oilseed processing in the 2025/2026 MY is at the highest level in recent years; farms did not suffer losses, since the profitability of soybeans was 26.6%, and rapeseed - 25%, and the seasonal price on the domestic market was competitive with the export price. The novelty was the determination of the socio-economic and environmental consequences of the raw material trap, the identification of obstacles to exiting it and ways to eliminate them. Among them: encouraging vertical and horizontal integration of agricultural producers, raw material processors and trade networks, the creation of clusters of agricultural production, the resuscitation of all types of cooperation between micro, small and medium-sized farms and with agricultural holdings; promoting private investments in the innovative development of food technologies, in particular through the implementation of the "Farm to Fork" strategy, ecosystems in the agri-food sector, etc.; supporting and scaling marketing initiatives of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to open alternative ways of access to the markets of organic, craft and niche food products. Thus, agroholding structures can be classified into three groups: the first - traditionally specializing in the processing and export of finished products of plant and animal origin (70% or more of income); the second - of a mixed type, as it combines raw material exports with partial processing of agricultural products (from 15 to 35%); the third - is engaged exclusively in the export of grain and oilseed crops (up to 100% of income).