In 2023, KMZ Industries (Karlivka Machine-Building Plant, KMZ, Poltava region) fulfilled 46 contracts for the installation, supervision, consulting, and repair of equipment and built 160 thousand cubic meters of elevator capacity, the company’s press service reported on Facebook.
According to the report, this figure is almost in line with the results of pre-war 2021.
“In total, over the year, the company’s installation department managed to install so much equipment that it increased the elevator capacity of our indomitable country by 160 thousand cubic meters of storage,” the press service quoted Vyacheslav Stepanchuk, Director of Installation and Construction at KMZ Industries, as saying.
In addition, in 2023, KMZ Industries installed silos and grain dryers weighing more than 2,300 tons, transport equipment of 1.25 km, and gravity routes of about 1 km.
KMZ Industries manufactures flat-bottomed and conical-bottomed silos, flour storage silos, Brice-Baker (British-designed) and DSP (Ukrainian-designed) shaft grain dryers, transportation equipment (elevators, chain, belt and screw conveyors), grain cleaning separators, and installs and automates elevator equipment and technological processes at grain storage facilities.
Dragon Capital Investments Limited (Cyprus), whose ultimate beneficiary is Tomas Fiala, owns 80% of KMZ shares, while Variant Agro Bud LLC owns 20%.
One of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, Nibulon JV LLC (Mykolaiv), plans to continue the reform of agricultural production in 2024, develop a de-mining unit, modernize its agricultural machinery fleet for $20 million, logistics for $14 million, and elevators for $12 million, said Andriy Vadatursky, CEO of the agricultural holding.
“Next year is the year of implementing the strategies we have developed. We have to achieve greater efficiency in all areas and comprehensively modernize the company. This will allow our people to receive higher salaries and the company to strengthen its competitiveness – both its own and the industry’s in the global market,” he wrote on Facebook on the occasion of the 32nd anniversary of Nibulon’s foundation.
According to the CEO of the agricultural holding, as part of the agricultural production reform, the company will continue to develop conservation tillage technologies, introduce automation and stabilize relations with landowners.
Mr. Vadatursky noted that the agricultural holding managed to return more than 4,000 hectares of land in Mykolaiv region to operation this year thanks to the launch of a new humanitarian demining unit. “Nibulon expects to receive four demining vehicles, which is facilitated by DEG Impulse gGmbH. The sappers trained by the agricultural holding will not only clear the land bank owned by Nibulon, but will also provide services to everyone.
According to him, the $20 million received from the Danish Export Investment Fund (EIFO) will be used to purchase Claas, Horshch, Hardi, Bednar, etc. agricultural machinery.
Almost $14 million has already been allocated to modernize the agricultural holding’s logistics, which has helped to upgrade the fleet and develop the port infrastructure.
As the war forced Nibulon to reorient its export chains due to the loss of river navigation, the grain trader increased the share of grain transportation by trucks. For this purpose, the company purchased 74 new Scania trucks, STAS trailers, as well as new fuel trucks and tanks.
The port infrastructure of the Bessarabian branch was strengthened by two new Liebherr reloaders, which allow for additional transshipment of up to 1000 tons of grain per hour and will be used in other logistics models of the company.
“Thanks to the USAID Economic Support for Ukraine project, Nibulon has expanded its railroad fleet with 50 hopper cars built at Karpaty.
“The bulk of the investments will be directed to the construction of a new elevator at the Khmelnytskyi branch, reconstruction of Vradiyivskyi and Kolosivskyi elevators. In addition, Nibulon is planning to improve the automated control system of elevator complexes,” Vadatursky said.
According to him, a new SCADA software solution will be created on the basis of the existing system to ensure a continuous, transparent and controlled technological process. This will allow receiving data in real time, saving resources, increasing staff productivity and, accordingly, their salaries.
Nibulon JV LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and crop reception complexes, a one-time storage capacity of 2.25 million tons of agricultural products, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugs), and owned the Mykolaiv Shipyard.
“Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries.
In 2021, the grain trader exported the highest ever 5.64 million tons of agricultural products, reaching record volumes of supplies to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Nibulon’s losses from Russia’s full-scale military invasion have reached $400 million. The grain trader is currently operating at 30% of capacity and has set up a special unit to clear agricultural land of mines.
An elevator with a total capacity of 24,000 tons of simultaneous storage is under construction in Cherkassy region, the press service of the contracting company Lubnymash LLC reported.
“Silos with a total capacity of 5,500 tons each and a diameter of 22 meters, having roof panels with GreenCoat® polymer coating from SSAB (RUUKKI), providing protection against corrosion for 50 years, are almost completely installed,” the contractor wrote on Facebook.
According to his information, the installation of one of the operational storage silos with a diameter of 5.5 meters and a capacity of 300 tons has already been completed. The second one is in the queue.
In addition, the installation of shaft type grain dryer U13-SSH50M2T with a capacity of 50 tons per hour (with removal of moisture from wheat from 20% to 14%), with full external insulation of the shaft on the alternative heat generator GRECO group has been completed.
Work has begun on transport equipment with a capacity of 100 tons per hour, in particular, 13 galvanized chain conveyors with a total length of 180 meters and 5 galvanized bucket-type belt elevators with a total height of 97 meters are being installed.
According to the company’s website, PE Lubnymash is a Ukrainian manufacturer and supplier of equipment for transportation, storage, processing of grain, grain products and other materials. The company sells its products under the Lubnymash and Lubnymash brands.
The company’s plant in the Poltava region has its own foundry, forging and painting facilities, two assembly shops, a mechanical shop, tool, welding and assembly and blanking areas, warehouses of materials and finished products.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs, the ultimate beneficiary of the company PE Lubnymash is Maria Kudryk.
JV Nibulon LLC (Nikolaev), one of the largest operators on the grain market of Ukraine, attracted EUR27 million from the Export Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) to increase the capacity of the Bessarabian branch in Izmail, where an elevator and a flour mill will be built, the company’s press service said on Facebook.
“We are extremely impressed by the speed of decision-making and support from Denmark in these difficult times for the Ukrainian economy. We really need more and more such positive signals so that others can emulate them,” Nibulon CFO Olga Babanina said.
According to the grain trader, the raised funds will be used to build an elevator for simultaneous storage of 118.5 thousand tons of grain and high-tech modern mill with a capacity of 750 tons per day.
This infrastructural solution will allow Nibulon to increase its export capacity up to 300,000 tons per month and supply flour to the domestic market as well as serve the interests of the food security mission of UN World Food Program via the Danube ports, the company explained.
Besides, the company added that construction of the new production facilities will allow to increase the number of jobs in the region and employ 100 specialists.
As it was informed, the financing is carried out within the framework of social program of Danish Investment Fund, created for Ukraine. The launch of the program was announced in May during the Ukrainian Investment Forum in Copenhagen.
JV Nibulon LLC was founded in 1991. Before the Russian military invasion the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and complexes for reception of agricultural crops, capacities for simultaneous storage of 2.25 mln tons of agro-industrial complex products, fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugboats) and owned Nikolaev Shipbuilding Plant.
“Nibulon” before the war worked 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries.
The grain trader exported a maximum of 5.64 million tons of agricultural products in 2021, reaching record volumes of deliveries to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Nibulon’s losses from Russia’s full-scale invasion reached $400 million. The grain trader is currently operating at 30% of its capacity and has set up a special unit to clear farmland.
Agricultural company Grain Alliance (Sweden) with assets in Ukraine has purchased and installed four diesel electric generators with a total capacity of 1.7 MW at Piryatynskyi elevator in Poltava region, which will enable the company to ensure continuous operation during prolonged power outages.
As reported on the company website on Wednesday, thanks to its own power generation the enterprise works productively despite the difficulties with electricity in Ukraine: as of the morning of November 7, the granary with the total capacity of 100 thousand tons has stored almost 20 thousand tons of corn, over 23 thousand tons of soybeans and 1.5 thousand tons of sunflower.
“We installed and connected all four generators promptly almost on the day of receipt, despite the weather or other technical conditions. The cumulative capacity produced by the new elevators is 1.7 MW. Thus, the division has ensured its energy independence in order to meet the set production objectives to the end,” Grain Alliance quotes Piryatynsky elevator director Oleksandr Gavrilenko as saying.
Silos with a total capacity of up to 100 tons of agricultural products are installed on Piryatynsky granary: six silos of 8 tons each produced by “Lubnymash”, 4 silos of 12 tons by “Option Agro Bud” and two silos of 5 tons by KMZ Industries.
In total, Grain Alliance has six granaries in Ukraine with a total capacity of over 260 thousand tons.
Before war, the agricultural holding farmed 57 thousand hectares in Kyiv, Poltava, Chernigov and Cherkassy regions, grew over 300 thousand tons of grains and oilseeds a year, and owned more than a thousand head of cattle.
The founders of Harvest Moon East LLC (Baryshevka village, Kyiv region) and BZK Grain Alliance (Sweden) created a joint company, Grain Alliance, in 2009.
Grain Capital Group of Companies has started the installation of technological equipment at a silo with a capacity of 21,500 tonnes, which it is now building on the territory of a feed mill in Ivano-Frankivsk region.
We are talking about installing a line for receiving, drying and storing grain, the company said on its Facebook page on Tuesday.
According to the agreement, in the near future the company will install transport and gravity equipment, a grain hopper with a cone bottom, a grain separator with an aspiration system, and silos with cone and flat bottoms.
As reported with reference to First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Taras Vysotsky, this season in Ukraine there may be a shortage of elevator capacities for storing 10-15 million tonnes of crops.
According to the KSE Institute, during the war, the Russian invaders damaged or completely destroyed 4 million tonnes of containers for storing agricultural products. Another part of the granaries are located in the temporarily occupied territories.
Grain Capital is a Ukrainian manufacturer and service provider in the field of storage and processing of grain, it includes Plant of Elevator Equipment and Grain Capital – Engineering. The Group operates in Eastern Europe with headquarters in Odesa.
It collaborates with a network of global partners such as Bonfanti, Westeel, Siemens, Moeller, Schneider Electric, Camozzі, Garden Denver, SEW Eurodrive, Motovario, SKF, etc.
