With the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion, A.G.R. Group. Group and MK Merchants SA, owned by businessman Misak Khidiryan, reoriented logistics routes from Ukrainian seaports to the EU market via road and rail transport as well as the river ports of Reni and Izmail.
Misak Khidiryan told Interfax-Ukraine news agency that the group of companies will continue to export part of its agricultural products through the land border crossings with the EU and along the Danube River even after the liberation of the occupied territories from the Russian troops and Ukraine’s resumption of full trade in the Black Sea.
According to his data, after the full-scale war began, the group of companies searched for elevator facilities in Western Ukraine and transported crop stocks there from the central regions of the country. Later on, logistic channels by road and rail were established for the marketing of agricultural products in the European Union. The group of companies already has an agreement to cooperate with a European trading company with quite a powerful infrastructure throughout Europe, where they have already started supplying their agricultural products.
“In addition, we have agreed that we will work together to load their volumes and have given guarantees that after our victory and the liberation of the occupied territories, we will maintain our partnership, even when the ports are opened and maritime logistics are again a priority. Perhaps even consider with the board of the A.G.R. Group to buy new clusters in the West of Ukraine for a more convenient partnership,” Misak Khidiryan told the agency.
According to him, deep-sea ports are currently inaccessible for export, so road and rail transport is used, as well as Reni and Izmail ports. However, such logistics is much more expensive than sea exports, and it also involves a number of difficulties, such as the inability of drivers – its citizens – to travel outside Ukraine, or large queues of ships in the ports.
However, in addition to the European direction, activity in several countries of the Middle East has been stepped up. “Our offices are operating there and we are running domestic sales to the maximum, because we need additional margin due to high logistics costs. We have to clearly understand that the logistics leverage has increased, freight prices have gone up, energy and fuel prices have gone up, and as a result we are spending about $200 on a ton of exports. $200 on our commodity is a huge amount of money, we used to spend $45-50 per ton,” stated Misak Khidiryan.
Agroholding A.G.R. Group includes more than 20 companies. The main direction of its activity is trade in agricultural products, cultivation and storage of crops, as well as cattle breeding.
A.G.R. Group cultivates land in Poltava, Kiev, Chernigov, Nikolaev and Sumy regions. All grown products are sold on foreign markets.
The president of the holding and head of its supervisory board is businessman Misak Khidirian.
A.G.R.GROUP, agricultural cluster, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, Khidiryan, Merchants, RIVER PORT'S
The group of companies, A.G.R. Group, of businessman Misak Khidiryan, with the start of a full-scale Russian invasion, reoriented logistics routes from Ukrainian seaports to the EU market through road and rail transport, as well as the river ports of Reni and Izmail.
As a representative of the grain trading department told Interfax-Ukraine, the company would continue to export part of its agricultural products through land border crossings with the EU and along the Danube River even after the occupied territories are liberated from Russian troops and Ukraine resumes full-fledged trade in the Black Sea.
According to him, after the start of the war, A.G.R. Group began searching for elevator capacities in the west of Ukraine and transporting crop stocks there from the central regions of the country. Later, A.G.R. Group established road and rail logistics channels for the selling of agricultural products in the EU, and also agreed to cooperate with a European trading company with a fairly strong infrastructure throughout Europe and begun to supply agricultural products to it.
“In addition, we agreed that we would work together to load their volumes and gave guarantees that after our victory and the liberation of the occupied territories, we will maintain our partnerships, even when ports open and maritime logistics again become a priority. Perhaps even consider with the board purchase of new clusters in western Ukraine for a more convenient partnership,” the representative of the holding told the agency.
According to him, at the moment, deep-water seaports are not available to the holding for export, so it uses road and rail transport, as well as the ports of Reni and Izmail. However, such logistics is much more expensive than maritime exports, and is also associated with a number of difficulties, such as the inability to leave Ukraine for drivers – its citizens, or long queues of ships in ports.
However, A.G.R. Group, in addition to the European direction, stepped up its activities in several countries of the Middle East – in Egypt and Turkey, where the company opened its representative offices.
“Our offices are operating there and domestic sales are running at maximum, as we need additional margin due to high logistics costs. We must clearly understand that the logistics leverage has increased, freight prices have increased, energy and fuel prices have risen, as a result of which we spend about $200 per tonne of exports, $200 on our product is a lot of money, we used to spend $45-50 per tonne,” the source said.
In the agricultural holding A.G.R. Group includes 20 companies. The main direction of its activity is the trade in agricultural products, the cultivation and storage of grain crops, as well as animal husbandry.
A.G.R. Group cultivates land in Poltava, Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. All grown products are sold on foreign markets.
The holding’s president and head of its supervisory board is businessman Misak Khidiryan.
A.G.R. Group agricultural holding intends to become a public company and is mulling an IPO, the holding said in a press release. “A.G.R. Group plans to become a public company and enter the international borrowing markets, in particular, IPO,” the agricultural holding said in a statement.
According to Svitlana Korytska, the corporate investment director, A.G.R. Group conducted the restructuring of the holding, received positive audit conclusions from KPMG.
A.G.R. Group is an agricultural holding with 19 companies. Its core business is the cultivation of grain crops, mainly corn and soybeans. The holding is also engaged in animal husbandry and grain storage.
A.G.R. Group enterprises cultivate land in Poltava, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions. The grown products are sold in foreign markets.
The land bank of the agricultural holding is 28,800 ha.
The founder and sole shareholder of A.G.R. Group is Misak Khidiryan.
