KYIV. March 20 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Investment Bank (EIB) on March 10, 2017 approved the financing of a production line for processing tomatoes in Ukraine.
The bank said on its website that the proposed investment underpins the promoter’s strategy to increase the competitiveness of its business through expansion of capacity and resource efficiency.
The total cost of the project and the recipient of the funds are not disclosed.
As reported, in May 2016 the International Finance Corporation (IFC) from the World Bank Group said it would provide $10 million to Agrofusion Group to boost its working capital. Agrofusion is the largest Ukrainian vertically integrated industrial tomato paste producer created by former co-founder of Sandora juice producers businessman Serhiy Sypko. The funds were invested late October 2016, the IFC said on its website.
Early November 2016 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said that the bank could provide a $15 million loan to Agrofusion. The EBRD Board was to discuss the provision of funds on December 14, but now the information about the project was removed from the bank’s website.
Agrofusion Group was founded by Sypko in 2007. Agrofusion Group in 2014 reached its maximum production of 52,778 tonnes of tomato paste, in 2015 it expanded its capabilities through investment, reaching a figure of 61,500 tonnes.
The company’s operational assets include two tomato paste plants with total processing capacity of approximately 500,000 tonnes of tomatoes per season; two seedling green-houses; and 20,000 hectares of irrigated leased land in Mykolaiv and Kherson regions as well as modern farming equipment.
