Agrotrade Group has launched its 2026 spring sowing campaign in four regions of Ukraine, namely Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava regions, Ivan Kriuchkov, director of the group’s agro-industrial department, said on the agricultural holding’s Facebook page.
According to the statement, the agricultural holding revised its crop rotation structure for the 2026 season: the areas under sunflower and corn were increased at the expense of soybean plantings. About 16.5 thousand hectares were allocated for corn (24.9% of the total structure), 16 thousand hectares for sunflower (28.6%), while soybeans will occupy 3 thousand hectares.
“We have good expectations for this season. Timely implementation of agricultural operations and proper crop care are important conditions for success. The team is focused on delivering everything planned,” Kriuchkov said.
As of April 21, the agricultural holding had completed sowing on about 12% of the planned production area, using 18 seeders. The campaign is expected to be completed within three weeks. In 2026, Agrotrade plans to improve efficiency through the introduction of Strip-Till and no-till technologies.
As reported, corn became the most productive crop for Agrotrade in 2025 and showed an average yield of 9.89 tonnes per hectare, which was 17% above plan. In particular, the borderland clusters in Sumy and Chernihiv regions recorded yields of 10.3-10.4 tonnes per hectare.
Agrotrade Group is a vertically integrated holding cultivating more than 70 thousand hectares of land. It owns a network of elevators with a total capacity of 570 thousand tonnes and a seed plant based at the Kolos farm in Kharkiv region. Its founder and CEO is Vsevolod Kozhemiako.
As of April 20, farmers had sown 1,251.9 thousand hectares with spring grain and leguminous crops, which amounts to 21% of the forecast for 2026, the press service of the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture reported on Tuesday.
According to оперативе statistics, over the past week farmers sowed 254.9 thousand hectares compared with 168.7 thousand hectares the previous week. The pace of field work increased by 1.5 times, but the overall figures are 15.3% behind last year’s pace, when as of April 25, 2025, 1,478.7 thousand hectares had been sown.
The Ministry of Economy clarified that so far 623.8 thousand hectares of barley have been sown (83% of the plan), peas – 238.3 thousand hectares (87%), wheat – 158.8 thousand hectares (85%) and oats – 117.5 thousand hectares (85%). Corn sowing has intensified and reached 75.7 thousand hectares (2% of the forecast), the area under millet amounts to 1.2 thousand hectares (3%), and buckwheat sowing has started (0.01 thousand hectares). Other spring grain and leguminous crops have been sown on 36.5 thousand hectares (27% of the forecast).
The highest sowing rates for grain and leguminous crops have currently been recorded in Odesa region (168.2 thousand hectares), Ternopil region (96.3 thousand hectares), Mykolaiv region (89.4 thousand hectares) and Poltava region (86.5 thousand hectares).
At the same time, sowing of industrial crops is continuing, with 440.8 thousand hectares already sown. In particular, 293.6 thousand hectares have been allocated for sunflower (6% of the forecast), and 21.8 thousand hectares for soybeans (1%). Sugar beet has been sown on 125.4 thousand hectares, which is 64% of the planned area.
As reported, as of April 25, 2025, 2,000 thousand hectares in Ukraine had been sown with spring grain and leguminous crops. In particular, corn accounted for 705 thousand hectares, barley – 702.1 thousand hectares, wheat – 199.8 thousand hectares, peas – 201.8 thousand hectares, and oats – 154.2 thousand hectares. On the same date last year, 1,236.8 thousand hectares had been sown with sunflower, 187.6 thousand hectares with soybeans, and 228.5 thousand hectares with sugar beet.
According to the forecast of the Ministry of Economy, the total area of spring grain and leguminous crops in 2026 will amount to 6.002 mln hectares, of which corn will account for 4.418 mln hectares. Among industrial crops, 5 mln hectares are planned for sunflower, 2.04 mln hectares for soybeans, and 197.2 thousand hectares for sugar beet.
AGRICULTURE, FARMERS, GRAINS, SOWING CAMPAIGN, SPRING SOWING
According to The Serbian Economist, Serbia’s Elixir Group and Germany’s K+S have launched production of a new water-soluble fertilizer for agriculture at the Prahovo ChemPark site in Serbia. The product will be marketed in Europe under the brand name soluMAP®.
Simply put, production has begun in Prahovo of a fertilizer that dissolves quickly in water and is used in modern plant nutrition systems—primarily in drip irrigation and other precision application methods. This is important for the European market, as such supplies will be geographically closer and delivery times shorter. K+S explicitly states that the project is intended to strengthen the reliability of supply for European customers.
The site is located in Prahovo on the Danube, near the borders with Romania and Bulgaria. K+S notes that this simplifies logistics across Europe and to Turkey, while the proximity to Elixir’s phosphoric acid production facilities provides the project with a local raw material supply.
The Elixir and K+S project was announced back in 2023. At that time, it was reported that the investment would amount to €35 million, and the capacity of the new plant in Prahovo would be 50,000 tons per year. Production was planned to begin in 2026.
For Elixir, this launch also reinforces the role of Prahovo ChemPark as a major industrial and chemical hub. The group describes itself as the leading producer of phosphoric acid in the region and the largest producer of compound mineral fertilizers in Southeast Europe, with over 70% of its output exported to more than 85 countries.
The tMAP 12-61 product is a fertilizer with a high phosphorus and nitrogen content. The numbers 12-61 indicate the proportion of the main nutrients: 12% nitrogen and 61% phosphorus.
It is used in drip irrigation, fertigation, and foliar feeding, especially during the early stages of plant growth when crops need phosphorus for root system development.
https://t.me/relocationrs/2448
According to Serbian Economist, MK Group plans a new investment cycle worth between EUR1 billion and EUR2 billion in 2026-2030, said the group’s CEO Mihailo Jankovic, speaking at the Kopaonik Business Forum. According to him, about EUR 1 billion is expected to be allocated to renewable energy projects, more than EUR 200 million to agriculture, and the rest to the development of the hotel portfolio and premium tourism in the region.
Thus, the publication of the program for approximately EUR 1.6 billion in energy, agriculture, and tourism is generally in line with the group’s previously announced targets. The MK Group’s official website still states that the total volume of the previously announced investment cycle is EUR 1.6 billion, including EUR 900 million for green energy, EUR 350 million for agriculture, and EUR 380 million for tourism, while the latest March announcement extends the program’s horizon to 2030 and sets the range at EUR 1-2 billion.
Jankovic linked the new round of investments to the need to strengthen domestic investment amid a weakening of external capital. He noted that in 2022-2024, the average net inflow of foreign direct investment into Serbia was around EUR 4.5 billion per year, while in the first 11 months of 2025, it fell to EUR 1.94 billion. In his opinion, in such conditions, it is large national companies that should become one of the drivers of further growth.
MK Group also emphasizes that it already has a strong position in the energy segment. The company calls itself the largest independent electricity producer in Serbia: its portfolio includes four operating wind farms with a total capacity of 200 MW, which generate about 500 GWh of electricity annually, and in the next stage, the group intends to continue investing in wind, solar, and biomass projects.
MK Group was founded in 1983 by Miodrag Kostic. After he stepped down from active management, strategic leadership was transferred to his son, Aleksandar Kostic, who is now the group’s president. The business focuses on the agri-food sector, green energy, tourism, and real estate. The group’s structure includes, in particular, the agricultural companies PIK Bečej, Flora, Agrounija, and Erdevik, the sugar division Sunoko, and the meat division Carnex.
After purchasing sugar factories in 2002, Sunoko became the largest sugar producer in the wider region, while Carnex, acquired by the group in 2011, exports meat products to 15 countries. Sunoko, in turn, has announced plans to increase sugar exports to the EU and regional markets.
https://t.me/relocationrs/2416
According to Serbian Economist, Serbia and Ukraine are intensifying cooperation in agriculture, trade, and technology exchange.
The Serbian side confirmed its interest in expanding imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, especially corn, wheat, oilseeds, and semi-finished products for the food industry. At the same time, they discussed increasing supplies of Serbian goods to the Ukrainian market, including meat, dairy products, feed, and planting material.
According to the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture, Kyiv and Belgrade are considering the possibility of creating joint logistics corridors that would allow them to bypass existing transit restrictions and speed up the movement of goods between the countries. Special attention was paid to the topic of plant protection, veterinary standards, and simplifying certification procedures for producers in both countries.
The parties also noted the potential for cooperation in the development of digital agriculture and agrotechnologies. Ukraine offered Serbian companies an exchange of practices on the use of drones, remote monitoring systems, and AI analytics to optimize agricultural production. The Serbian delegation, in turn, expressed its willingness to share its experience in organic farming and agricultural raw material processing.
During the meeting, the prospects for Serbian companies’ participation in programs to restore Ukraine’s agricultural infrastructure, including the modernization of grain storage, processing facilities, and logistics, were also discussed.
The negotiations are taking place against the backdrop of growing trade turnover: in recent years, the volume of bilateral trade in agricultural products has shown steady growth, and Serbia is becoming one of Ukraine’s key Balkan partners in the region.
The next meeting of the relevant ministries is expected to take place in early 2026, where the parties plan to present a roadmap for deepening cooperation in the agricultural sector.
As of October 24, farmers harvested 37.560 million tons of grain and legumes from 8.400 million hectares, which is 73% of the area sown with these crops, according to the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture on its website.
Last year, on the same date, 45.1 million tons of grain were harvested from 9.7 million hectares, meaning that this year’s figures are 16.7% and 13.4% lower, respectively, mainly due to the later start of the corn harvest.
As noted by the Ministry of Economy, 7.71 million tons of corn have been harvested from 1.31 million hectares, while last year at approximately the same date, 15.4 million tons were harvested from 2.7 million hectares.
As for wheat, its harvest is slightly higher than last year’s – 22.80 million tons from 5.05 million hectares compared to 22.30 million tons from 4.9 million hectares, while barley is slightly lower – 5.37 million tons from 1.35 million hectares compared to 5.50 million tons from 1.41 million hectares.
This year’s pea harvest is significantly higher – 662,300 tons from 271,500 hectares compared to 465,300 tons from 212,200 hectares last year, while buckwheat and millet are still significantly lower – 83,300 tons versus 126,900 tons and 61,500 tons versus 159,500 tons, respectively.
The harvest of other cereals and legumes this year reached 876,700 tons from 317,600 hectares as of October 24, while last year it amounted to 1.1 million tons on the same date.
It is noted that among the leaders are, in particular, the Odesa region – 3.80 million tons from an area of 1.14 million hectares, Poltava – 2.86 million tons from 603.3 thousand hectares, Khmelnytskyi region – 2.55 million tons from 365,200 hectares, and Chernihiv region – 2.52 million tons from 407,700 hectares.
The harvest of wheat, barley, and peas has been completed, according to the Ministry of Economy.
As for oilseeds, the rapeseed harvest has already been completed, and it turned out to be only slightly less than last year’s – 3.32 million tons against 3.5 million tons from almost equal areas of about 1.3 million hectares.
However, the harvest of soybeans and sunflowers is still ongoing, and there is a significant lag: 3.50 million tons of soybeans have been harvested from 1.52 million hectares, compared to 5.6 million tons from 2.5 million hectares on the same date last year, while sunflower seeds – 7.84 million tons from 4.24 million hectares compared to 9.5 million tons from 4.6 million hectares.
In addition, sugar beet harvesting is also lagging behind: 5.64 million tons have been harvested from an area of 108,100 hectares, compared to 8.3 million tons from 170,600 hectares on the same date last year.
According to the Ministry of Economy, sunflowers have been harvested from 82% of the sown area, soybeans from 70%, and sugar beets from 55%.
In its Inflation Report published at the end of July, the National Bank of Ukraine lowered its forecast for this year’s grain harvest from 61.7 million tons to 57.9 million tons, and for oilseeds from 22 million tons to 21 million tons.
The NBU recalled that last year, the grain harvest in Ukraine fell to 56.2 million tons from 59.8 million tons in 2023, while oilseeds fell from 21.7 million tons to 20 million tons.
According to forecasts by Deputy Minister of Economy Taras Vysotsky, this year’s grain harvest will be around 56 million tons, the same as last year.
