State support of bioenergy in Ukraine: legal problems

The article is devoted to the study of state support in the field of bioenergy production in Ukraine. It is mentioned, that it is still not clear the legal nature of agricultural bioenergy relations. However, it is quite clear that relations on state support of bioenergy production (in terms of production of biofuels from agricultural raw materials) belong to the subject of agroprotective law and are regulated by it. This is due to the fact that: first, the objects of bioenergy relations are biomass and biofuels, which are agricultural products; secondly, the subjects of bioenergy relations are mainly agricultural producers or processors; thirdly, the content of bioenergy relations is in the production and processing of agricultural products. That is, bioenergy relations at the stages of production (formation) of biomass and its processing into biofuels constitute a type of agricultural activity, the state support of which is regulated by agroprotective law. It is revealed that in terms of state support should be taken such measures as: support of processing of actually produced agricultural products by its producer; support of creation of agricultural processing cooperatives; support of bioenergy production, which is based on the process of processing biomass into biofuels. Improvement of agroprotective legislation in this area should occur by: a) foreseeing universal legal mechanisms to support processing activities in the Law of Ukraine "On state support of agriculture of Ukraine"; b) addition to the Law of Ukraine "On agricultural cooperation" of agroprotective provisions on agricultural processing cooperatives; c) adoption of the Law of Ukraine "On production and sale of biofuels".