EUR60 mln will be invested in the construction of the Monsanto plant in Pochuiki village (Popelnyansky district, Zhytomyr region) by Bayer to produce corn seeds, said the head of Zhytomyr regional military administration Vitaliy Bunechko.
“Today together with the director of “Monsanto-seeds” LLC Vladimir Onishchenko laid a symbolic “time capsule” at the site of construction of new capacities of this enterprise. More than EUR60 million of additional investments during the war is the best evidence not only of international support for Ukraine, but also of the fact that large investors believe in our victory,” he wrote in Telegram.
Bunechko emphasized that Monsanto Seeds is already one of the largest seed plants in Eastern Europe. It provides corn hybrids not only to Ukrainian farmers, but also to agrarians in Romania, Hungary and France. After the construction of additional capacity, its potential will increase even more.
“Expansion of production is simultaneously the creation of new jobs in Zhytomyr region, increase of tax revenues to the budget, as well as foreign currency earnings, which is very important for the Ukrainian economy in war conditions,” he said.
At the same time, the head of Zhytomyr OVA noted the responsible position of Bayer, which in 2022, two months after the start of the full-scale invasion to support farmers who were sowing in super difficult conditions, gave them free of charge 140 tons of corn seeds of Monsanto selection.
The investment will reportedly be used to build a new seed dryer, purchase modern farming equipment, build storage facilities and two bomb shelters for employees. The plant employs about 100 full-time employees and 250 to 300 seasonal workers. The plant is one of the largest in the region.
Bayer is a multinational company that operates in the fields of medicine and agriculture. The company is headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany. In 2022, Bayer Group employed about 101 thousand people and its sales amounted to EUR50.7 bln.
The company has been operating in Ukraine since 1992 and is represented by the pharmaceutical division, OTC department, as well as the agricultural division. The total number of employees is 700.
The German concern Bayer AG, which specializes in biomedical solutions for healthcare and agriculture, has decided to continue supplying basic agricultural solutions to Russian farmers so that they can contribute to meeting global demand.
At the same time, Bayer hopes “that the Russian authorities will continue to provide free supplies of agricultural products” and “will not use food as a means of pressure on the world,” the company’s statement emphasizes.
At the same time, Bayer intends to invest heavily in Ukraine over the next decade. In particular, the company is investing more than EUR30 million in a seed plant in the Zhytomyr region to meet the demand for corn seeds in the country and abroad.
Bayer is fully committed to fighting what could become an unprecedented food crisis and shares the UN’s view that access to Ukrainian and Russian food is essential to reduce pressure on the global food system, the release notes.
Earlier, the company stopped deliveries to the Russian Federation and Belarus of those products that are not vital, and also suspended advertising and promotional activities, investments in these countries.
Virtual reality: to what extent does technology affect the success of a grower?
Date December 2, 2021 (Thursday)
Time 14:00
Link
Technology has changed dramatically over the last twenty years. Thanks to its rapid development, we explore, interact, buy and live differently. Agriculture is no exception. Growers can no longer work without satellites, drones and artificial intelligence. Technologies that help to collect data are becoming very important. However, perception of modern agriculture can be quite different – from a small farmer in a cab of old tractor to highly mechanized operations full of tractors and thousands of hectares. Sometimes it may seem that only high-tech farms use digital technology. But this is not quite true. Similar to how everyone on the planet uses smartphones, growers protect their crops with digital technology. But can digitalization really transform agriculture? Can a farmer grow more using less?
This is what we will discuss on December 2 during the panel discussion “Transformation of Agriculture through Digital Technology”:
These and other important topics our participants will be discussing during the panel discussion:
Moderator: Oleg Nivievskyi, Assistant Professor/Center for Food and Land Use Research at Kyiv School of Economics
Partner: Bayer.
Germany’s Bayer chemical concern has launched a seed plant in the village of Pochuiky (Zhytomyr region) for $200 million, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has written on his Facebook page.
“Today on September 5 in Zhytomyr region, a new modern plant for the production of seeds of agricultural products of Bayer company was opened. These are 85 permanent and 220 seasonal jobs for Ukrainians. It is important that Bayer helps to solve social issues of the local community – supports the school and library, financed the construction of a new road and an outpatient clinic,” he wrote.
Poroshenko said that $200 million of investment funds were attracted for the construction of the plant.
“This is more evidence that Ukraine is an attractive country for international investment,” the president said.
Bayer is an international company specializing in life sciences, namely, health and agriculture. The company has been operating in Ukraine since 1992 in the form of Bayer LLC, is a major supplier of crop protection agents (pesticides, herbicides and fungicides) and seeds in Ukraine.
