The International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group is considering a $40 million loan and a $40 million parallel loan to Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, Astarta, for the construction of a soy protein concentrate plant in Poltava region.
“The proposed investment is an IFC A loan of up to $40 million and a parallel loan of up to $40 million to Astarta Agro Protein Ukraine LLC, a subsidiary of Astarta Holding PLC, to finance the capital expenditures for a prospective soy protein concentrate (SPC) plant in Central Ukraine,” IFC said on its website.
It is noted that IFC has already assisted the agricultural holding in conducting market research, preparing a business plan for the project, and assessing its commercial viability in order to interact with potential investors.
It is specified that the IFC Board of Directors plans to consider this project on December 20 this year.
As reported, in 2024, Astarta began investing in the construction of a plant for processing soybean meal into soy protein concentrate with a capacity of 500 tons per day (about 100 thousand tons per year) in the Globinsky Industrial Complex (Poltava region). The agricultural holding will invest over EUR76 million in equipment and technology and create 110 new jobs.
“Astarta and its structural unit Astarta Agro Protein signed the first investment agreement with the Ukrainian government to receive compensation from the state for significant investments. As part of the agreement, the government will provide the agricultural holding with a number of incentives, including exemptions from import duties on new equipment, import VAT on new equipment and income tax for up to 5 years.
IFC recalled that Astarta commissioned a soybean processing plant in Globyno in December 2013. In 2023, it processed 232 thousand tons of soybeans, 73% of which were grown by the agricultural holding, and produced 172 thousand tons of soybean meal. In the first half of 2024, the share of the plant’s own raw materials increased to 90%.
Soy concentrate is produced by processing soybean meal with higher added value. It is used as a raw material for animal feed production.
If approved, this will be IFC’s fifth investment in Astarta since 2012.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes six sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 220 thousand hectares and dairy farms with 22 thousand cattle, an oil extraction plant in Globyno (Poltava region), seven elevators and a biogas complex.
In 2023, the agricultural holding reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR 61.9 million, and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR 145.77 million, while revenue increased by 21.3% to EUR 618.93 million.
“In January-September 2024, Astarta increased its net profit by 35.1% to EUR75.60 million, EBITDA by 12.8% to $131.56 million, with revenue up 12.6% to EUR441.46 million.
