In 2023, Epicenter Agro Holding, a member of the Epicenter K group of companies, began construction of a plant for the production of urea-ammonia mixture (UAN) and liquid complex fertilizers (LCF) in Vinnytsia region, according to the official website of the agricultural holding.
According to the report, the fertilizers are to be used during the 2024 sowing campaign.
“We have very ambitious goals for 2024. Changing the sowing structure, further testing of the No-till system, our own fertilizer production, and a number of other projects are just a small part of the challenges we have set for ourselves. In addition, we are confidently moving towards the introduction of processing of our products. This means that we firmly believe in ourselves as a team of professionals, our company Epicenter Agro, and the peaceful future of Ukraine,” said Svitlana Nikitiuk, Head of the Central Office of the Agricultural Department of Epicenter Agro.
Epicenter K LLC was established in 2003 and opened its first hypermarket in Kyiv in December of the same year. It has a network of shopping centers of the same name in Ukraine. It has also been developing its agricultural business since 2016. It cultivates more than 160 thousand hectares in Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy and Kyiv regions. The group includes 20 livestock farms and 15 elevator complexes with a total storage capacity of 1.5 million tons.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs, the shareholders of Epicenter K LLC are Oleksandr Gerega (51.3%), Galyna Gerega (47.97%) and Tetiana Surzhyk (0.73%).
In 2022 LNZ Group agricultural holding produced 7 thousand tons of frozen berries, fruits and vegetables at its plant for frozen berries, vegetables and vegetables in Shpole (Cherkasy region). They are sold under TM Tevitta – raspberry, sweet corn, seedless cherry, pumpkin, elderberry, currant, blueberry etc.
According to the LNZ website, the Tevitta brand has a closed circle of production and performs all production processes on its own, from growing to direct sales of packaged products.
In particular, the nursery has grown 2 million seedlings of strawberry, 220 thousand of raspberry and blackberry and about 50 thousand of other cultures: dog rose, elderberry, currant and cherry. In addition, in 2022, the company planted two new nurseries for raspberries and strawberries, a nursery for nursery seedlings, and built nearly three dozen tunnels for growing berries on an area of more than 2 hectares.
“Despite the war, the Tevitta brand was able to ramp up production, storage and direct processing capacity. And while the brand was already in operation in 2021, it was 2022 that was the year to fully launch and operate. The brand combined seedling production, berry, vegetable and fruit freezing and market sales. That is, the full-scale military invasion of the Russian Federation, the company actually met at the stage of formation,” the company said.
In addition, in the fields Tevitta planted 60 hectares of land for growing different raw materials for processing – from strawberries to rose hips. The nursery works not only to meet its own needs, but also supplies seedlings to farmers who are engaged in industrial berry production.
“The company is pleased with the result: the plant in 2022 came out to almost 100% utilization. What’s more, it has expanded its export boundaries. Products have already reached the markets of France, Belgium, Germany, Estonia and England. In addition, in early 2023 frozen products of Tevitta brand can be found on the shelves of stores in Ukraine and other European countries”, – summed up the holding.
LNZ Group was established on the basis of Lebedinsky seed plant. It specializes in selling corn, sunflower, wheat and barley seeds, as well as growing agricultural products and livestock. The group cultivates 70 thousand hectares of land, the number of cattle is about 6 thousand heads.
LNZ Group owns two elevator complexes in Sumy and Kirovograd regions with total storage capacity of 170 thousand tons of grain, and also has its own fleet of cars.
In the unified state register of legal entities and individuals the ultimate beneficiary of PJSC Lebedinsky seed plant (Cherkasy region) is Dmytro Kravchenko.
MHP agricultural holding, the largest chicken producer in Ukraine in October 2022 increased production of chicken by 1% compared to the previous month – to 59.61 thousand tons, while its sales reduced by 2% – to 62.36 thousand tons, according to the statement of agricultural group on the London Stock Exchange on Friday.
It is noted that the volume of chicken production in October 2022 is still 12% behind the same month of the “pre-war” 2021, but its sales exceeded last October’s figures by 11%.
It is specified that the share of chicken export shipments in October this year increased by 4 percentage points (p.p.) over September 2022, and by 3 p.p. over October 2021, to 60%.
A total of 37,69,000 tons of poultry were exported this October, up 6% from September 2022 and 18% from October 2021.
The domestic market sold 24,67 thousand tons of chicken meat in October 2022, 11% less than the previous month but 2% more than last October.
The average price of poultry meat sold in October 2022 was similar to the level of September this year – $1.93/kg, while in October a year earlier it was $1.70/kg (down 14%).
During the reporting period, MHP has reduced the sales of processed meat products and semi-finished products by 9% compared to September – up to 2.97 thousand tons, and this figure is still 40% lower than in October 2021.
According to agroholding, in October 2022 the sunflower oil sales fell by 71% against September this year, and by 51% against October 2021, to 12,800 tons, while soybean oil sales increased by 81% against September this year and by 86% against October last year, to 7,38 thousand tons.
MHP also pointed out that this season the holding is harvesting 335 ths. ha, with sunflower harvesting fully completed, the soybean harvesting is almost finished and corn is harvested on 75% of the area.
The winter crops sowing campaign is completed on about 74 thsd. ha (winter wheat – about 55%, winter rape – about 45%).
MHP is the largest producer of poultry in Ukraine. It is also engaged in the production of grain, sunflower oil, and meat processing products. To the European market, MHP supplies chilled half-carcass chickens, which are processed, including at its facilities in the Netherlands and Slovakia. In February 2019, the agroholding completed its acquisition of Slovenian company Perutnina Ptuj.
MHP posted a net profit of $393 million in 2021, compared with a net loss of $133 million in 2020, while its revenue rose 25 percent to $2.37 billion.
Ukrainian businessman Yuriy Kosyuk is the founder, majority shareholder and board chairman of MHP.
Mriya Agro Holding has launched its first crop protection chemical mix station in Khorostkiv, Ternopil region, to the tune of UAH 1.8 million. “We’ve launched a station to mix crop protection products in Khorostkiv to reduce the use of chemicals to a minimum and increase the speed of their application. The payback of the station in keeping with our estimates will be 12 months. Initially, the cost of the station was estimated at UAH 2.5 million, but we managed to reduce to UAH 1.8 million thanks to its re-equipment and refinement. We plan to launch 15 more such stations at all clusters of the agricultural holding,” head of Mriya Agro Holding’s agronomic department Oleksandr Khmeliuk said at a press conference.
According to him, the holding plans to approve a strategy in November 2018 for the construction of mix stations with a model design of the station, which will be used by all clusters of Mriya.
“Then it will be possible to evaluate the needed investments and the timing of the construction of stations for mixing crop protection products,” Khmeliuk said.
Mriya Agro Holding is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding founded in 1992 by Ivan Huta. Today, its land bank is 165,000 hectares. The capacity of its silos and grain storages is estimated at 380,000 tonnes.
