Industrial park (IP) “Belaya Tserkva” intends to start construction of two more factories in 2025, said Alexander Protsyuk, business development director of the industrial park.
“We now have five operating plants, three more are under construction and next year we will lay two more plants. That is, it will be more than 1 thousand jobs for Bila Tserkva, which is a significant achievement for a city of 250 thousand residents,” he said during the Ukrainian Automotive and Mobility Forum 2024 in Lviv.
Protsyuk recalled that since the beginning of the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation IP “Bila Tserkva” managed to attract three foreign investors – one of the world’s largest manufacturers of everyday goods company Uniliver, manufacturer of spare parts for electric vehicles InTiCa Systems, and a supplier of thin slab structures Finnish Peikko Group (whose plant is under construction – IF-U).
“InTiCa was the first company in Ukraine to obtain war risk insurance, and I will say that the quality of Ukrainian products is an order of magnitude higher than in its Czech division, where Ukrainians work, and in its Mexican division, which works for the American market. And now InTiCa is at a crossroads – they would very much like to move the plant from the Czech Republic to Ukraine, but they are worried about the Vienna risks. But I think we will expand their plant at our location,” Protsyuk said.
He also added that the work with Uniliver and Peikko Group lasted more than a year. “For these three successful cases we have four unsuccessful ones – these are large multinational companies, which for various reasons refused to enter or expand business in Ukraine,” – said the director of business development of IP ”Bila Tserkva.
Regarding the attractiveness of the park for investors, Protsyuk emphasized that for production cases location is certainly important (for example, in border areas), but equally important is access to high-quality but expensive labor and quick access to communications.
“These are two key things that attract investors – we don’t have to spend time on connecting to the networks, capacities are coordinated, and we have received funding from the government under the FE program. We have an unsuccessful history with USAID, but that was a good experience as well. We use all possible types of financing, including bank and grant financing,” Protsyuk said.
According to him today in the IP “Belaya Tserkva” of 36 hectares free 12 hectares, and in “Belaya Tserkva 2” – 24 hectares, and there is a built production facility of 2 thousand square meters, with connected communications in the neighborhood of Peikko and Uniliver.
“And we advise foreign investors who want to reduce the cost of production to keep up with global competition to think not only about investing in border cities like Lviv, for example, but also to shift a bit to the east, because the risks are not much bigger, but the advantages – good wages, freer access to communications, electricity – can offset these risks,” emphasizes Protsyuk.
“And we hope that next year we will have two more successful examples,” he summarized.
IP “Belaya Tserkva” and “Belaya Tserkva 2” – projects of the holding company UFuture of entrepreneur Vasily Khmelnitsky, were included in the Register of industrial parks in 2018.
On the developed territory of IP “Bila Tserkva” 41 square meters of production and warehouse premises were built and 14 residents were attracted, among which, in addition to Unilever, InTiCa Systems, Peikko and Pripravka relocated from Kharkiv since 2022, there is also a logistics depot of “Novaya Poshta”, a grain storage complex “Volytsya Agro”, a factory of electrical fittings Plank Electrotechnic, a manufacturer of high-rise equipment for construction work Virastar.
In 2024, TAS Agro invested $15 million in new equipment and infrastructure, and in 2025 it will continue to upgrade it, with livestock farming, design of bioethanol and biogas plants, and expansion of the land bank as priorities, the company’s CEO Oleg Zapletnyuk said in an interview with Forbes Ukraine.
“Over the past year, we have restarted the company (…) We have attracted financing for equipment. The money was used to improve working conditions and operational activities. Our strategy does not yet include a sharp increase in assets, so we are lending on a limited basis. Our focus is on increasing efficiency,” he said.
According to the CEO of the agricultural holding, TAS Agro purchased 14 John Deere tractors, 167 units of trailed equipment, loaders, seeders, manipulators, 45 Renault Duster pickups for agronomists, and 6 buses for transportation of employees in the 2024 season.
In addition, TAS Agro has begun building modern workshops and offices in the regions of its presence, and has set up service centers to repair equipment in the field.
In 2025, the agroholding intends to continue updating its equipment and complete the creation of anchor facilities in clusters: offices, warehouses, gas stations, for which it will allocate $7 million.
At the same time, the updated technology park allowed the agricultural holding to adjust its tillage technology and switch to deep loosening, vertical tillage, and strip-till sowing of rapeseed and wheat instead of plowing.
“This helped us reduce emissions and receive up to $800,000 in carbon certificates as part of a program to reduce our carbon footprint. How does it work? Each production facility in the EU has an emissions quota, and if a company cannot meet it, it buys a certificate from those who have reduced emissions on the stock exchange. This is a pretty good way for Ukrainian agricultural companies,” said Mr. Zapletniuk.
The agricultural holding has prioritized livestock production. In October 2024, TAS Agro transferred the buffalo farm TASbio to the management of TAS Agro. It produces cheeses that are sold in Le Silpo, Goodwine and Wine Time.
The agricultural holding plans to invest in the modernization of the dairy farm in 2025. “TAS Agro intends to build another farm for 1200 free-range cows, work with herd genetics, and introduce new approaches to feed production. In addition, the agroholding plans to improve herd housing and equip cattle facilities with climate control. Mr. Zapletnyuk added that Roshen buys milk from the agricultural holding mainly.
The agroholding plans to build bioethanol and biogas plants on the basis of dairy farms to create a closed production cycle.
“As for the energy sector, we are just developing a project. We will implement it in several stages by the end of 2027. The preliminary estimate of investments in biogas, bioethanol, and farm expansion is up to $15 million,” said Zapletniuk.
In addition, in 2024, TAS Agro bought an elevator with a storage capacity of 40 thousand tons in Chernihiv region. Along with it, a seed plant was sold, which also has a storage capacity of 10 thousand tons. The acquired assets, according to the CEO, will allow the agricultural holding to solve the storage problem and improve logistics. “TAS Agro plans to launch the acquired seed plant, which will produce wheat and soybean seeds.
At the same time, TAS Agro bought 2.5 thousand hectares of corporate rights in Vinnytsia region for long-term lease in the 2024 season. The plan for the next year is to expand the land bank by at least 10 thousand hectares to 90-95 thousand hectares.
Thanks to the resumption of the work of Ukrainian seaports, the agricultural holding has abandoned plans to acquire its own fleet and is no longer considering such investments, summarized the CEO of TAS Agro.
TAS Agro was established in 2014. Its land bank includes 88 thousand hectares in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad and Mykolaiv regions. The holding specializes in crop production, with elevators with a capacity of about 250 thousand tons. The livestock business is represented by a cattle herd of 5.5 thousand heads, of which 2.5 thousand heads are dairy cattle.
According to the Opendatabot resource, the company’s revenue in 2023 amounted to UAH 2.588 billion, net profit – UAH 155.842 million, debt – UAH 1.2 billion, assets were estimated at UAH 1.8653 billion, and the number of employees – 129. The authorized capital is UAH 8 thousand.
The agricultural holding is part of the TAS group, which was founded in 1998. Its business interests include the financial sector (banking and insurance segments) and pharmacy, as well as industry, real estate, and venture capital projects.
The founder of TAS and the beneficiary of TAS Agro is Sergiy Tigipko.
Avtostrada Group of Companies has resumed construction of the subway to the Vynohradar residential area in Kyiv, its press service has reported.
According to the press release, the construction of the Syrets-Pechersk (“green”) line is underway from the Syrets station. In total, the construction of two stations is planned – Mostytska and Prospekt Pravdy.
The section from Syrets station to Mostytska station will be laid in a closed way – by tunneling, and from Mostytska to Pravdy Avenue – in an open way.
The total length of the construction (from Syrets station to Pravdy Prospekt) is 3.78 km.
Atostrada continues construction of a two-tiered rectangular monolithic tunnel on the Mostytska – Pravdy Prospekt section. This design is due to the specifics of the infrastructure of a densely built-up residential area. A pit is being developed and a support system is being installed for further tunnel construction. A PVC membrane waterproofing system is being installed in the concrete areas left by the previous contractor, which can be restored even after the facility is commissioned. As noted, such waterproofing was used during the construction of a section of the tunnel between Lybidska and Demiivska metro stations. The finished sections of the tunnel are being backfilled with soil.
The facility includes six construction sites. Preparatory work is underway at other construction sites.
As the press service emphasizes, Avtostrada started the construction of the metro line to Vynohradar using its own working capital, without advances.
As reported, in August 2024, the Kyiv Metro utility company signed an agreement to continue construction of the Syretsko-Pecherska line in the direction of the Vynohradar residential area. The winner of the tender was Avtostrada Group LLC. The term of the works is set at 30 months and their cost is UAH 13 billion 785 million. The procurement was conducted on the Prozorro electronic public procurement platform.
According to the Kyiv City State Administration, the right turnaround tunnel has already been built with a length of almost 1,250 meters from Mostytska station to Syrets station. In addition, the construction of the main structures of the distillation ventilation unit has been completed. The wall-in-soil method of enclosing structures and the metal structures for the pit have also been partially installed. The main structures of the combined traction substation were constructed, and two-tier tunnels were partially constructed.
In December 2023, Kyiv Metro terminated the contract with Kyivmetrobud JSC in court due to the failure to meet the deadlines for construction work. The court is considering the recovery of a part of the prepayment, the use of which is not confirmed by the relevant acts of work performed, as well as penalties.
Prices for construction and installation works in Ukraine in July-September 2024 increased by 6.4% compared to the same period in 2023, the State Statistics Service (Ukrstat) reported.
According to the statistics agency, in the third quarter, prices increased in all segments of construction: in residential construction, the growth was 7.8%, in non-residential construction – 6.7%, and in engineering – 5.7%. Compared to the previous quarter of this year, prices increased by 1.9%, 1.5% and 1.5%, respectively.
In September 2024 to September 2023, prices for construction and installation works increased by 5.9%, while the figures remained at the level of August 2024. In the first nine months of 2024, construction prices rose by 8.5% compared to the same period last year.
As reported, in 2023, prices for construction and installation work rose by 15.8% compared to the previous year. The State Statistics Service noted that the figures exclude the temporarily occupied territories and part of the territories where hostilities are (were) conducted.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing Kormotech, a leading Ukrainian pet food producer, with a financing package to increase exports and geographic diversification by building a second pet food plant in Lithuania, the EBRD press service reports.
According to the release, the total cost of the Kormotech project will be EUR63 million.
The allocated financing package is a EUR40 million A/B syndicated loan, of which EUR20 million will be provided by the Dutch SDG-focused asset management fund ILX Fund.
The bank has previously provided EUR 15 million to Kormotech Group, a long-standing EBRD client, for the construction of its first plant in Lithuania, which began operations in June 2020. The bank also provided a EUR3.3 million loan to the company to replenish working capital during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
The EBRD loan is accompanied by grant financing, including a grant from the Japan-EBRD Cooperation Fund, which partially covers the costs of external lawyers. The grant funding will also partially cover the cost of new workplace equipment that will create new livelihoods for groups that need more attention, including women and people with disabilities. This component is being implemented as part of the EBRD’s new program aimed at stimulating capital investment.
The loan is provided to the Group’s holding company Vengast Investments Ltd (Cyprus) and its subsidiary in Lithuania, Kormotech UAB.
The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war in 2022, the bank has provided EUR 5 billion to the Ukrainian economy and agreed with shareholders to increase capital by EUR 4 billion, which will allow it to continue lending at current levels during the war and further increase volumes during the full-scale recovery phase.
Kormotech is a global family-owned company with Ukrainian roots that has been producing cat and dog food under the Optimeal, Club 4 Paws, Woof! and Meow! brands since 2003. The company has production facilities in Ukraine and the EU, with a product range of over 650 items. Its focus on exports and geographic diversification helps it withstand the impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The new project will also help Kormotech strengthen its human resources and skills development efforts in light of the current challenging situation on the Ukrainian labor market, including creating new employment and training opportunities for women, veterans, and other groups that require more attention. It will also enable Kormotech to improve energy efficiency.
In 2023, Kormotech’s turnover increased by 22.5% to $152 million from $124 million in 2022. The ratio of sales abroad and in Ukraine in tons is now 31% to 69%, respectively (in 2022 it was 28% to 72% in Ukraine).
Kormotech brands grew most dynamically in the markets of Romania (+35%), Poland (+11%) and Moldova (+11%).
Kormotech is a leader in Ukraine, one of the world’s top 50 pet food producers and one of the top 21 most dynamic pet food brands. The ultimate beneficiaries of Kormotech are Olena and Rostyslav Vovk.
Turkish defense company Baykar intends to complete the construction of a plant near Kyiv in August 2025, the company’s CEO Haluk Bayraktar told Reuters.
“We have completed 80% of the construction and are now ordering vehicles. The date of production will be determined by the course of the war, but the facility will be ready in August 2025,” Bayraktar told the agency in an interview on Thursday.
The plant is expected to produce the TB2 or its heavier TB3 variant.
Baykar currently uses Ukrainian-made engines for its Akinci and Kizilelma drones. The company also recently signed an agreement with Ukraine’s Ivchenko-Progress to jointly develop a turbofan engine, Baykar said.
Over the next five years, Baykar will invest $300 million to develop a turboprop engine for the Akinci drone. This will be followed by the development of a turbofan engine for Kizilelma, an unmanned air-to-air combat vehicle currently undergoing flight testing.
Baykar will keep the capacity of the TB2 and Akinci production lines at the same level, and over the next few years will invest in the expansion of the TB3 and Kizilelma lines. The Kizilelma is expected to start mass production next year in the amount of 10 units. Baykar’s revenue last year was $2 billion, up from $1.4 billion the previous year, with 90% coming from foreign markets.
The company accounts for about a third of all Turkish exports of defense and aerospace products.
As previously reported, Turkish-made Bayraktar drones have gained wide popularity in the world after the Ukrainian military began using them to counter Russian troops, destroying armored vehicles and artillery systems. In February, it was reported that the Baykar plant in Ukraine would employ about 500 people and produce about 120 units per year.
