The U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has approved a loan of up to $40 million for Astarta, Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, at the sub-council level.
“(The loan) will assist in the construction and operation of a soy protein processing plant with a projected annual capacity of about 100,000 tons and help Astarta make other investments,” DFC said on its website.
At the same time, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group announced at the end of November 2024 that it was considering a $40 million loan to Astarta and a parallel $40 million loan for the construction of a soy protein concentrate plant in Poltava region. The recipient of the funds is Astarta Agro Protein LLC, a subsidiary of Astarta Holding plc.
It was 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.
Initially, the IFC Board of Directors planned to consider this project on December 20, but then postponed it to February 28, 2025.
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 EUR 76 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%.
Soybean concentrate is produced by processing soybean meal with higher added value. It serves as a raw material for the production of animal feed.
In 2023, the agricultural holding reduced its net profit by 5.0% to EUR61.9 million, and its EBITDA decreased by 6.1% to EUR145.77 million, while revenue increased by 21.3% to EUR618.93 million.
