Business news from Ukraine

On September 8, the 17th International Conference “Effective Management of Agribusiness Companies” (LFM) will be held. The event will be attended by CEOs of leading agribusiness companies, investors, government officials, experts, innovators, and business owners.

This was reported by Interfax-Ukraine, citing the press service of the organizers—the “Ukrainian Agribusiness Club” and the UCABevent agency.

This year’s conference offers a fresh perspective on agribusiness: how to restructure business models, maintain efficiency amid global changes, adapt to European integration, and prepare for a world where artificial intelligence and autonomous technologies are becoming part of everyday operations.

The organizers promise participants over 8 hours of management training and networking, a format designed for maximum interaction, practical insights, and discussions on key issues. Traditional panel discussions will give way to open dialogue, where participants can ask questions, defend their positions, and influence the direction of the conversation.

Conference Program

The conference will be opened by Taras Vysotsky, Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine, and Mykola Mazany, CEO of CNH Industrial in Ukraine.

This year’s program consists of four thematic blocks, each of which explores a distinct aspect of agribusiness transformation:

1. The Strategic Horizon of Ukrainian Agribusiness.

Traditional business models no longer guarantee results, and external factors—from logistical constraints and climate risks to shifts in global markets—are forcing companies to rethink their approaches to scaling and management. In this session, we will discuss where the tipping point lies and how businesses can remain resilient in this new reality.

Attendees can expect:

• A presentation titled “The Tipping Point: When the Model Stopped Working” by Alex Lissitsa, President of UCAB and Chairman of the Board of Directors of IMC.
• A discussion titled “Agricultural Exports Under Pressure: Logistics, Trading, and Business Resilience.” Participants: Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, Chairman of the Board of JSC “Ukrzaliznytsia”; Semen Sinyakov, Director of the Department for Working with Agribusiness Enterprises and Petroleum Product Market Operators at Pivdenny Bank; Mykhailo Bno-Airiian, Vice President for International Relations at MHP; Yevhen Osipov, CEO of Kernel.

2. Win-win or shock therapy? How Ukraine’s membership will change the EU’s stability.

European integration is creating new rules, standards, and opportunities for the Ukrainian agribusiness sector. What impact will enlargement have on the European economy, and how can the agribusiness sector adapt to the requirements of the Green Deal without losing efficiency?

You’ll find answers to these questions during:

• The presentation “Draghi, Letta, and Ukraine: How to Expand the EU Without Ruining Its Economy” by Oleksandra Avramenko, Chair of the UCAB Committee on European Integration.
• The discussion “The Green Deal Without Losses: How to Maintain Agribusiness Efficiency in the Context of European Integration?”

3. Dismantling the Architecture. Is the business community ready to trust processes that humans cannot fully understand?

Agribusiness is entering a period where automation, artificial intelligence, and autonomous technologies are transforming the very logic of production organization. This section focuses on figures, productivity, labor shortages, and the future of the autonomous enterprise:

• Presentation “Large-Scale Agribusiness in Figures: 2025 Results and Early Trends for the 2026 Season” by Oksana Bobrova, Head of Benchmarking at Agrohub.
• Presentation “Agricultural Singularity: The Model of the Autonomous Enterprise in 2036” by Oleg Khomenko, CEO of UCAB.
• Discussion “Agronomy Without Agronomists, Logistics Without Logisticians: Full Automation of Operations and the Birth of New Processes,” featuring the following speakers: Bogdan Kryvitsky, Chief Operating Officer of IMC; Dmytro Skornyakov, CEO of HarvEast; Oleksandr Verzhikhovsky, CEO of IMC; Oleg Zapletnyuk, CEO of TAS Agro; Oleksiy Stetsenko, Commercial Director of Syngenta’s Crop Protection Business; Oleg Zubchenko, Chairman and Member of Supervisory Boards, expert in strategy and operational transformation, lecturer at KSE GBS, Vice President of ABPMP Ukraine; and Serhiy Kravchuk, CEO of Gals Agro.

4. The Last Recruiter. When Will AI Stop Playing the Role of an Assistant?

Artificial intelligence is already transforming not only individual processes but also the labor market itself. The final session of the conference will focus on the professions of the future, the transformation of education, and how businesses can prepare for this new reality.

This part of the conference will cover:

• A presentation titled “Crash Test of the Labor Market: A Global Study of Professions at Risk of Disappearance” by Olena Boychenko, a partner in Deloitte’s consulting department in Ukraine.
• A discussion titled “The Death of Academicism: Are Universities Losing the War for Knowledge to Personal AI Mentors?”, moderated by Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of the Kyiv School of Economics, Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and Minister of Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture from 2019 to 2020. Along with Igor Kovalenko, Rector of Sumy National Agrarian University; Natalia Teryakhina, HR Director at Kernel; Dmytro Zavgorodniy, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformation, and Digitalization, and Olga Trofimtseva, Project Manager of the German-Ukrainian Agrarian Policy Dialogue, they will discuss how artificial intelligence is changing approaches to education, workforce training, and human capital development.

Terms of Participation and Registration

For security reasons, the exact venue will be communicated to registered participants.

Details and registration are available at the following link: https://cutt.ly/7yarHYei