Despite the war, Ukraine is reviving large agricultural exhibitions that have a significant impact on the industry and serve as a platform for experience exchange, SEEDS writes.
One of the largest international exhibitions in Ukraine, Agrovesna, is also returning to the capital. Traditionally, in the spring, before the start of field work, the participants of this exhibition demonstrate modern technologies in various industries: grain farming, animal husbandry, and fruit and vegetable production at the Kyiv Exhibition Center.
Due to the risks of wartime and security concerns, the exhibition was not held last year, but times are changing rapidly and this year’s Agrovesna will be held in Kyiv!
This outstanding agricultural event will take place at the International Exhibition Center of Kyiv on February 14-16. It is important that interest in such large-scale events in Ukraine is slowly but surely recovering, exhibition director Sergiy Vysotsky told SEEDS.
“It would be a bit presumptuous to say that everything has recovered, but we can confidently say that interest in exhibitions is recovering. The process is gradual, but the vector of movement is quite stable. We see that this is a need for both our economy and its individual industries. Of course, it is not at the level it was before the full-scale invasion, but both people and companies are interested in exhibitions. And, God willing, everything will gradually recover,” hopes Sergey Vysotsky.
“It has already become a tradition to hold the International Conference of Sapienza Agri-Media Agency every year as part of Agrovesna, dedicated to various topics of increasing the profits of agricultural business. After a short break, we are returning with a new topic. This year, on the first day of Agrovesna, our agency, with the participation of agricultural associations and farmers’ unions, is holding a Conference on Sustainable Agribusiness. Starting at 12:00, participants will be able to learn more about sustainable and profitable agricultural technologies. You will learn about new niches that are developing in Ukraine despite the war, find out more about agricultural business support programs and ways to harmoniously develop agricultural business in line with the EU’s policy. Together with the participants, we will also formulate a conference resolution with the best practices and plans for sustainable agricultural development in Ukraine,” says Kateryna Zvereva, founder of the agro-media agency Sapienza, International Consultant to the UN FAO.
“This will be the first Agrovesna since the beginning of the war. The last one had to be canceled for quite good reasons, reminded Serhiy Vysotsky.
“Last year, we canceled Agrovesna because the situation was very difficult, both in terms of security and energy. Frequent power outages forced us to look for new resources. We found them, but they were quite expensive. Now the situation is stable, and we are more prepared in terms of security – we have a bomb shelter right on the territory of the IEC. It is comfortable and has a high level of protection. In addition, we see that the tension that we had last year is gone. We are doing everything to make our exhibitors and visitors feel comfortable and safe,” says Sergey Vysotsky.
As part of AGROWESNA, an international conference will be held on February 14 at 12:00 in Kyiv IEC: SUSTAINABLE AGRIBUSINESS: “TRADITIONS.NICHES.ECO-PRACTICES.TECHNOLOGIES”.
PARTICIPATION IS FREE OF CHARGE WITH PRIOR REGISTRATION
The conference is organized by Sapienza.media agro-media agency with the support of the Ukrainian Fruit and Vegetable Association (UFPA).
A record number of electric cars – more than 37 thousand – were imported to Ukraine in 2023. This is 4 times more than in 2021. The most popular electric car brands are Volkswagen, Tesla, and Nissan. And Lviv region is the leader in the number of registrations of such cars.
A record 37,953 electric cars were imported to Ukraine in 2023. This is 4 times more than in 2021, when 8,996 electric cars were imported.
In total, electric cars accounted for 10% of the total number of cars imported to Ukraine in 2023. For comparison, in 2021, the share of electric cars was only 1.2%.
The largest number of imported electric vehicles was registered in Lviv region – 5,133 cars. Kyiv is in second place with 4,913 electric vehicles, and Odesa region is in third place with 3,412 electric cars registered there.
The most popular electric car brands in Ukraine in 2023 were Volkswagen, Tesla, Nissan, Renault, and Honda.
Nissan Leaf has been the most popular electric car model for 4 years in a row. More than 5 thousand of these cars were imported to Ukraine last year. Volkswagen ID.4 is in second place in terms of demand – 3,770 cars. Tesla Model 3 rounds out the top three with 3,291 electric cars.
The oldest electric car imported to Ukraine in 2023 was a Citroen Saxo made in 2000.
Record number of electric cars imported to Ukraine in 2023 – Opendatabot
Astarta Agro Holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, processed 2.7 million tons of sugar beet grown by itself and its agricultural partners at its five sugar factories in 2023-2024 and produced 377.5 thousand tons of sugar.
“The processing season of 2023, which lasted 130 days, was the best in terms of processed raw materials and produced sugar over the past five years,” the agroholding’s press service reported on Facebook.
Summing up the results of the harvesting campaign, Astarta reported that its structural units harvested 200 thousand tons of corn with a yield of 10.35 tons/ha, up 16.2% year-on-year, and 2.2 million tons of sugar beet with a yield of 57.61 tons/ha (+2.6%).
“Longer harvesting periods were caused by several factors: difficult weather conditions: heavy and prolonged precipitation in October-November 2023 caused a delay in harvesting and logistical difficulties in delivering raw materials to processing plants, and thus disrupted the rhythm of some sugar factories. Another important factor was the increase in the yield of late crops: the yields of corn and sugar beet were the highest in the history of the holding’s crops,” Astarta said, adding that it continues to prepare for the spring sowing season.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding 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 the third quarter of 2023, the agricultural holding earned EUR1.24 million in net profit, down 27.7 times compared to the same period in 2022. Astarta’s revenue decreased by 14.4% to EUR104.75 million, gross profit by 2.7 times to EUR26.96 million, operating profit by 7.6 times to EUR6.79 million, and EBITDA by 42.7% to EUR97.25 million.
Due to significantly better performance in the first half of this year compared to the first half of last year, in the first nine months of 2023, net profit decreased by 9.8% to EUR 55.97 million, while revenue increased by 14.8% to EUR 392.00 million. The company’s gross profit increased by 3.0% to EUR 151.91 million, while operating profit decreased by 15.9% to EUR 79.91 million and EBITDA by 10.8% to EUR 116.63 million.
In 2023, Ukraine’s ports handled 62 million tons, including 56.3 million tons for export, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) reported on Facebook on Wednesday.
According to the administration, imports amounted to 5.3 million tons. At the same time, the Ukrainian sea corridor has already exported 18 million tons of cargo to 32 countries, 12.7 million tons of which are agricultural products.
“By the end of 2023, about 62 million tons of cargo were transshipped by Ukrainian ports in wartime. Among the leaders in terms of cargo nomenclature are grains – 45.5 million tons and liquid bulk – 6.3 million tons. An undoubted achievement of 2023 was the launch of the temporary sea corridor announced by the Ukrainian Navy, which made it possible to unblock the ports of Greater Odesa. On August 16, 2023, the first vessel used the temporary corridor. According to the results of 2023, 400 vessels exported 12.8 million tons of cargo,” the statement said.
Last year, the Danube ports transshipped 32 million tons of cargo, which exceeds the record figures of 2022, the USPA said in a statement.
The cargo turnover of the port of Izmail more than doubled and reached 20.2 million tons (in 2022 – 8.8 million tons). The cargo turnover of the port of Reni reached 10 million tons (6.8 million tons), and that of the port of Ust-Dunaisk – 1.7 million tons (785 thousand tons).
The cargo turnover of the port of Odesa also increased and reached 8.41 million tons (7.69 million tons in 2022), while the cargo turnover of the port of Pivdennyi decreased to 10.08 million tons (15.28 million tons), and the port of Chornomorsk – 11.41 million tons (11.76 million tons).
“I am very grateful to the business, the team of the Ministry of Development (Communities, Infrastructure Territories) and the employees of USPA for effective cooperation, which has led to a number of technical and technological measures: 23 transshipment points have been launched and 15 investment projects are being implemented, which all helped to achieve such record-breaking results. Despite the fact that a lot has already been done, in 2024 we will continue to work together to further increase cargo turnover and improve the work of the Danube cluster ports,” Yuriy Lytvyn, Head of USPA, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Earlier it was reported that the new Ukrainian sea corridor created by the Ukrainian Navy in August 2023 ensured the export of almost 15 million tons of products, including 10 million tons of agricultural products.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the form of the declaration of compliance of the material and technical base of small distillers with the requirements of the law and determined the procedure for its submission and registration.
The relevant Resolution No. 56 of January 19, 2024 was published on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.
According to the document, small distillers will be able to submit a declaration of compliance of the material and technical base with the legal requirements to the territorial bodies of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. Instead of the production certificate, they will be able to use the declaration of compliance of the material and technical base registered by the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection to obtain licenses for the production of alcohol distillates and alcoholic beverages, which will greatly simplify this procedure.
It is expected that the adopted innovations will ensure the development of the market for alcohol distillates and alcoholic beverages, stimulate the development and legalization of small businesses, and contribute to the creation of new jobs, particularly in rural areas.
Earlier, Interfax-Ukraine news agency held a press conference to support the new industry, for more details, please follow the link
OTP Bank uses the latest technologies for the development of factoring services, which allows to significantly speed up work processes and provide financing to customers faster. This was stated by Lina Zaika, Head of Factoring Finance Department of OTP Bank, during the round table discussion “How factoring can support business development during the war” organized by the Financial Club.
According to her, the Bank has switched to full electronic document management: from signing relevant agreements and executing documents on assignment of the right of monetary claim to compiling registers and storing loan files. “We are actively using new technologies, including robots, artificial intelligence and all possible means that help, for example, in verifying supporting documents for loan applications and speed up work processes. We are developing in such a way that our clients can exchange not only electronic documents online, but also receive all the necessary information from the Bank,” said Ms. Zaika.
Factoring financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is an affordable and convenient product. Factoring allows you to get working capital for your business immediately after the delivery of goods, without waiting for the end of the deferred payment period under the contract with the buyer. “This type of financing is especially relevant for small companies with limited assets due to the absence of the need to provide collateral, as well as a reduction in the interest burden for them,” she added.
This instrument of bank financing was supported by the state in the form of the “Affordable Factoring” program, which operates within the framework of the state business support “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%” to provide working capital for SMEs.
OTP Bank was one of the first to join the implementation of the “Affordable Factoring” program. “The bank is already considering several limits and plans to sign the first factoring agreements under the 5-7-9 program in the near future,” said the Head of Factoring Finance Department.
About the state program “Affordable Factoring” (data from the Ministry of Finance). Financial support for business entities under factoring agreements provides for compensation of the interest rate at the level of up to 13% per annum. The authorized factor will provide factoring to a business entity in the amount of up to 95% of its receivables, but the amount of financing cannot exceed UAH 150 million, including funds received under the programs “Affordable Loans 5-7-9%” and “Affordable Financial Leasing 5-7-9%”. The program is open to SMEs resident in Ukraine that supply goods manufactured by Ukrainian producers on a deferred payment basis, whose ultimate beneficial owners (controllers) are individuals resident in Ukraine and agricultural producers.
