Financial-industrial group TAS plans to invest at least $30-40 million in the development of its own production and land bank in 2024, TAS Group founder Serhiy Tigipko said in an interview with Forbes-Ukraine on Wednesday.
“So far we are looking at what gives synergy. This is our own production, primarily in Ukraine. But we are watching the market, if any interesting enterprises will appear. We are definitely ready to invest in agriculture – in the land bank, first of all. This is a strategy for us,” he said.
Tigipko added that he is looking out for investments in processing, which the group has not yet engaged in. “Where exactly we will go, we do not know yet to the end,” – said the founder of the group “TAS”.
The businessman also said that among the plans for 2024 is to increase the production of apple concentrate.
“We want to increase the export volume of apple concentrate. We plan to invest in one of the two plants, and if everything succeeds, to double production,” Tigipko added.
At the same time, according to the founder of TAS Group, logistics currently “eats up” a large share of funds. He noted that his own logistics company mitigates the situation, but the issue of logistics remains complicated, so the group is studying the possibility of acquiring a European transportation company.
“We are considering buying a European transportation company. This will allow to link the supply chain for the client – both in Ukraine and the EU,” he said.
Financial and industrial group “TAS” was founded in 1998 by businessman Serhiy Tihipko. Its business interests include the financial sector (banking and insurance segments) and pharmacy sector, as well as industry, real estate and venture projects.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) has presented a website dedicated to the launch of the Land Bank with the publication of answers to the main questions on land relations, as well as a map with the lands that will be accumulated in the Land Bank.
According to the FGI website, the law launching a transparent lease of state-owned agricultural land through online auctions was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on July 27, obliging the Fund to create a Land Bank.
“The main goal is to fight corruption on state-owned agricultural land. Every year, unscrupulous managers of state-owned agribusinesses leased state land to businesses under “gray” schemes. In their pockets got tens of millions of dollars of cash, and the state – losses,” – quoted the press service of the head of the FGI Rustem Umerov.
It recalled that about 700 thousand hectares of state farmland for years did not bring funds for the budget and citizens. FGI intends to change this by accumulating information about them in the Land Bank and will subsequently lease through open online auctions on the electronic platform Prozorro.
“The new investment product will allow each Ukrainian to start their own business, transparently and openly leasing a land plot through an online auction “, – emphasized in the FGI.
According to preliminary calculations, the expected economic effect from the introduction of transparent land lease will be up to 7 billion UAH per year.
The first auctions will be held in 2024.
IMK Agro Holding is preparing for the spring sowing campaign of 2023, during which it plans to sow all 100% of its land bank (120 thousand hectares), for which it is now buying all the necessary materials and repairing agricultural equipment.
As the group reported at the Warsaw Stock Exchange on Thursday, it sowed winter wheat in the fall of 2022 on about 33,000 hectares, an increase of 80% over previous years, with all crops coming up and in good condition.
IMC specified that in 2022 it harvested 121.9 thousand tons of wheat with a yield of 6.7 tons/ha, and 64.2 thousand tons of sunflower with a yield of 3.4 tons/ha.
“Maize, IMC’s main crop, continues to be harvested, with 42% of the company’s land bank in 2022. As of February 1, 2023, 70% of the area under corn has already been harvested. Corn yield is 10.7 tons/ha (10.6 tons/ha in 2021),” stressed the holding in its report.
At the same time, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the blockade of sea export routes led to a 35% reduction of IMC crop sales in 2022 to 483 thousand tons from 743 thousand tons in 2021.
IMC specified that in the first half of 2022 it was forced to develop alternative export routes through the western borders of Ukraine, but they could not fully compensate the volume of exports through the Ukrainian Black Sea ports. As a consequence, in May-July 2022, the holding exported an average of 14 thousand tons of crops per month compared to 70 thousand tons in the prewar period.
After signing Istanbul Grain Agreement in August, 2022 and partial unblocking of the Black Sea export, the holding increased its crops export almost to pre-war level – in December, 2022 IMC shipped to foreign markets about 66 thousand tons of crops.
IMC specializes in the cultivation of grain and oilseeds and the production of milk in Ukraine. It cultivates about 123,300 hectares of land in Poltava, Chernigov and Sumy regions. It has a storage capacity of 554 thsd. tons of grains and oilseeds.
By the end of 2021, IMC increased its net profit by 2.5 times compared to 2020 – up to $78.71 million, EBITDA – by 53%, to $110.35 million, revenues – by 12.6%, to $181.69 million.
KSG Agro agricultural holding increased its land bank by 6.7%, to 23,900 hectares, the company’s press service said on Wednesday.
According to the report, the agricultural holding has increased its land bank due to 1,500 hectares of land shares in village Strilkove (Henichesk district, Kherson region), where it plans to grow crops.
The exact names of the products are not indicated.
The vertically integrated holding KSG Agro is engaged in pig breeding and production, storage, processing and sale of grain and oilseeds.
Over the nine months of 2020, the agricultural holding posted $4.77 million in net profit, which is 52% less than in the same period in 2019, revenue decreased by 17%, to $14.67 million.
Dnipro Agro Group in 2018 increased its land bank to 50,300 hectares (16% or 7,000 hectares more), according to the company’s website.
According to the company, Dnipro Agro Group also almost doubled the capacity of elevators, to 124,000 tonnes. In addition, the company launched a pig breeding project for 1,300 animals.
According to the report, in the 2018 marketing year Dnipro Agro Group collected 69.8 tonnes of grain and 76.1 tonnes of oilseeds.
Dnipro Agro Group is a vertically integrated group of companies whose core business is production, storage and sale of grains and oilseeds.
Turkey’s Onur, engaged in construction and repair of roads and buildings and developing agriculture, plans to double land bank in Ukraine, to 10,000 ha.
“We have been investing in it for two years now. So far, we have about 5,000 hectares of agricultural land… We mostly concentrate on grain, but if we can increase our land to 10,000-15,000 hectares, we will look into other areas,” Head of Delegation, General Coordinator of Onur Group Emre Karaahmetoglu said in an interview with Global FDI Reports.
According to the public register of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, the owners of Onur own Agroseton LLC (the village of Ozhydiv, Lviv region). The company was registered in May 2016. Its owners are Karaahmetoglu (20%), Onur Cetinceviz (40%) and Ihsan Cetinceviz (40%). The charter capital is UAH 2 million.
