KYIV. April 29 (Interfax-Ukraine) – ED&F Man, one of the world’s largest sugar trading companies, has invested $5 million in the launch of the first stage of an irrigation complex with an area of 1,000 hectares in Bilozerka district of Kherson region.
“The first line of the complex, in which the British company has already invested $5 million, will allow growing sugar beets on 1,000 hectares in a zone of risky farming,” a press release from the company reads.
The company intends by 2020 to restore the irrigation system on a total area of 20,000 hectares in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, investment will exceed $60 million.
“We focus on a full cycle of production: from seeds to finished products, sugar. Both the company and the Ukrainian economy are interested in a high added value. Through cooperation with local and central authorities that create conditions necessary for us, ED&F Man has more comfortable conditions for work, so we can plan the following investment projects,” Managing Director for Commodities at ED&F Man Jan Kees van der Wild said.
According to Kherson region governor Andriy Hordeyev, the national budget foresees UAH 30 million for improving irrigation in 2017, of which UAH 26 million will be allocated to Kherson region.
During the period of work in Ukraine, ED&F Man has invested more than $150 million in development.
ED&F Man was founded in London in 1783. It is the largest supplier of food, sugar, spices, animal feed, tropical oils, rubber, biofuel and coffee through a network of offices and agencies in more than 50 countries.
