The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has approved a program to import fresh apples from Ukraine, the press service of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection reported.
“In the face of full-scale Russian aggression, we pay special attention to supporting Ukraine’s economy and Ukrainian exporters. A strong economy and resilient businesses play a critical role in the overall defense capability of our country. That is why we, together with the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, continue to create new opportunities for Ukrainian producers, liberalize trade, and open doors to new foreign markets,” said Andriy Sybiga, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
“The demand for Ukrainian products is growing every year in the international trade arena. Today, Canada is opening its market for our apples. The State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, processes every request from businesses to open new markets. Not only some countries are considered, but the entire world map: America, the European Union, Africa, and East Asia,” emphasized Serhiy Tkachuk, Head of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
Canada has already updated its import requirements for Ukraine in its Automated Import Reference System (AIRS) and approved the Export Program for Ukrainian apples (Malus domestica).
According to the agreement, apples can be supplied to Canada by producers who grow them, have packaging and export campaigns, and are included in the List of Exporters, Producers and Packers of Ukrainian Apples to Canada.
Their orchards are monitored by the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection to predict the spread of pests and provide recommendations for pest control. Pest control measures should ensure that registered operators maintain a low prevalence of pests or the absence of pests regulated in Canada. Businesses must use sorting equipment to remove ticks, insects, other pests and dirt, etc.
Each shipment requires a phytosanitary certificate from the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
IMC Agro Holding has added 150 grain carriers to its own railcar fleet, which now totals 300 cars, its press service reports.
According to the report, in 2024-2025, IMC invested about $22 million in grain cars.
“This railcar fleet will allow us to largely abandon leased railcars for the transportation of grain to ports,” IMC CEO Oleksandr Verzhykhovsky was quoted as saying in the report.
He added that, according to the agricultural holding, after the commissioning of this fleet, IMC will be able to transport up to 80% of the annual volume of grain grown with its own wagons, providing confidence in the timely execution of the railway component of export logistics and significantly saving on rail transportation.
IMC Agro Holding is an integrated group of companies operating in Sumy, Poltava and Chernihiv regions (north and center of Ukraine) in the crop production, elevators and warehouses segments. The Group’s land bank is about 120 thousand hectares and storage capacity is 554 thousand tons, with a harvest of 1.002 million tons in 2023.
In 2023, IMC posted a net loss of $21.03 million compared to $1.12 million a year earlier, and its EBITDA decreased 11.3 times to $3.22 million. Revenue increased by 22.3% to $139.45 million, while the share of exports decreased to 68% from 73% a year earlier.
Astarta, Ukraine’s largest sugar producer, has successfully passed certification under the Canada Organic Regime standard and received a Canadian organic certificate for its products – organic chickpeas and high oleic organic sunflower, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
“This expands our export opportunities and strengthens Ukraine’s position as a supplier of quality organic products on the world stage,” Vyacheslav Chuk, the agricultural holding’s director of commercial and strategic marketing, said in a statement.
As noted, the certification confirms that the production process complies with international organic standards, which include the use of renewable resources, safe technologies for people and the environment, animal welfare, prohibition of GMOs and prevention of environmental pollution.
“Demand for organic products is growing globally, and Canada is one of the largest importers of organic products. The certificate gives us access to new markets that recognize this standard,” explained Chuk.
“Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding company operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It comprises 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.
Production Enterprise Tekhmash JSC (Dnipro) plans to allocate UAH 5 million from retained earnings to pay dividends in 2024, at the rate of UAH 16,667 thousand per share with a par value of UAH 8.
According to the draft decision of the general meeting of shareholders scheduled for April 10, published in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), dividends are scheduled to be paid by October 10, 2025.
As reported, in 2023, the company also paid UAH 5 million in dividends from retained earnings.
“Tecmash does not provide financial indicators for 2024, but according to the Clarity Project, last year the company made a net profit of UAH 2.83 million (against UAH 0.19 million in 2023) with a 35% increase in net income to UAH 223.4 million.
Retained earnings at the beginning of the year amounted to UAH 66.74 million (UAH 76.13 million a year earlier).
As of the fourth quarter of 2024, 61% of the authorized capital of Tekhmash is owned by its director Oleksandr Kolomoitsyn, and four other individuals own 28% of the shares in total. The authorized capital of the company is UAH 2.4 million.
The main specialization of Tekhmash is the installation of technological equipment, pipelines, and the manufacture of equipment for various industries, including conveyors (scraper, belt, screw), capacitive equipment, metal structures, and aspiration air ducts.
At the beginning of 2024, it employed 229 people, down 23% from a year earlier.
In 2024, Raiffeisen Bank (Kyiv) had UAH 7 billion of new investments in its portfolio, of which UAH 3 billion were for agricultural processing projects, said Yuriy Kozak, Director of Large Corporate Clients, Raiffeisen Bank (Kyiv).
“Since the beginning of the war, customer behavior has evolved. At first, they looked at the operating business, at working capital. In 2023, the demand for investment loans to replace machinery and equipment began to recover. In 2024, we as banks saw a real demand for investment. Clients have already come with new production facilities, new capacities, even new plants,” he said at the Ukrainian Investment Congress in Kyiv on Thursday.
Kozak noted that in 2024, Raiffeisen Bank’s portfolio included requests for new investments worth UAH 7 billion, of which UAH 3 billion was for agricultural processing: starch production, soybean processing, oil extraction plants, bioethanol and biomethane production. In addition, in 2024, a number of clients from the agricultural sector began to build new dairy farms.
He added that Raiffeisen Bank actively assists agricultural businesses and provides loans for 5 years. The bank offers foreign currency loans to companies engaged in export activities, which are quite cheap compared to foreign financing. Speaking about hryvnia loans, the expert noted that they are more expensive due to the political realities in the country, the discount rate and the cost of resources.
Geographical structure of Ukraine’s foreign trade (exports) in January-October 2024, million USD
Source: Open4Business.com.ua
