On Friday, Lithuania handed over a new batch of military aid to Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said.
The Lithuanian Armed Forces sent several million rounds of ammunition and several thousand shells for short-range portable anti-tank grenade launchers to Ukraine. The aid shipment also includes about a thousand folding beds, the statement said.
“We hear the urgent requests of Ukraine and continue to provide assistance in accordance with the stated needs. We actively encourage our allies to do the same,” Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said.
According to the Ministry of Defense, in addition to the regular transfer of military equipment, Lithuania also actively trains Ukrainian servicemen, provides medical treatment and rehabilitation, expert advice, and allocates funds to international funds for Ukraine.
As noted, for the period of 2024-2026, Lithuania will provide Ukraine with a military assistance package of EUR 200 million to counter Russia’s full-scale military aggression.
Kormotech, a leading Ukrainian manufacturer of cat and dog food, will expand its production in Kėdainiai, Lithuania, investing more than EUR60 million in four production stages to be commissioned in 2025-2028, the company’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine.
“Lithuania is now our window to the world. Our plant in Kėdainiai has become a reliable support for us – it always operates at 100% capacity, while in Ukraine we have to take into account the risks of shutdowns due to the war. We aim to further expand our capacity in Lithuania by building four additional production lines by 2028,” said Rostyslav Vovk, CEO and co-owner of Kormotech.
Kormotech launched its first foreign plant in Kėdainiai, Lithuania, in 2020. Currently, more than 170 specialists from Ukraine and Lithuania work at the wet feed production facility with a capacity of more than 20 thousand tons per year.
“Our successful experience of building and operating in Lithuania, favorable conditions in the free economic zone, support from Invest Lithuania and our well-established network of partners and suppliers led us to the decision to expand the enterprise,” emphasized Vovk.
Kormotech plans to launch the first new production line by 2025, adding a line each year until the four production lines are fully operational in 2028. As the expansion project progresses, the company will be interested in finding qualified engineers, technologists, and other highly specialized professionals in both Ukraine and Lithuania. With the new expansion project, Kormotech will double its current workforce in Lithuania, adding 200 new jobs in five years.
According to Elius Civilis, Director General of Invest Lithuania, the Lithuanian state agency, Kormotech’s expansion shows that Lithuania is open to foreign investors and creates truly favorable conditions for them.
“In Kėdainiai, Kormotech has built a modern, highly automated plant employing local specialists of various competencies. The company’s decision to expand its facilities and double the team size demonstrates the quality of both the local business infrastructure and talent,” emphasized Chivilis.
In Ukraine, Kormotech is constantly expanding its production capacity. During 2022-2023, the company invested about $14 million to modernize dry feed production and expand wet feed production by almost 70%.
“We plan to build new production facilities in Ukraine immediately after the war ends,” said Vovk.
Kormotech is a global family-owned company with Ukrainian roots that has been producing high-quality cat and dog food under the Optimeal, CLUB 4 PAWS, Woof, Meow! The company has production facilities in Ukraine and the EU. The product range includes more than 650 items.
The company is among the TOP-60 global pet food manufacturers and TOP-20 most dynamic pet food brands. Kormotech sells products of its own brands and those of its partners in 40 countries.
Currently, the company employs about 1300 people in five countries – Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and the United States.
Invest Lithuania is a non-profit agency under the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Lithuania. Its mission is to attract foreign investment. It serves as a point of contact for foreign companies and accompanies international business at every stage of the process of starting a business in Lithuania, providing information on recruitment, tax benefits and financing options.
Kormotech, Ukraine’s largest manufacturer of cat and dog food, will implement a number of investment projects in Ukraine and Lithuania, where it has production facilities, as part of the development of its production capacities in 2023-2024, said the company’s beneficiary Rostyslav Vovk during a Business Breakfast with Forbes Ukraine on Wednesday.
According to him, Kormotech completed a 25% expansion of the company’s factory in Lithuania in the second quarter of 2023. In addition, in the third quarter, it will put into operation a new line at a factory in Lviv region for the production of wet fodder.
“EUR8m was invested in it (the new line at the factory in Lviv region), which allowed us to expand the plant’s production capacity by 65%. If earlier its capacity was 17,000 tons (of fodder – IF-U) per year, now it will be 27,000 tons,” he said.
In addition, according to the information of the company owner, at the end of 2023 Kormotech will start construction of a new factory in Lithuania, in which it will invest more than EUR60 mln.
“This factory will have the same capacity as our two factories in Ukraine. It will be plus 40 thousand tons. We should reach the launch of the first line in the middle of 2025,” Vovk emphasized.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has announced the creation of the Ukraine Capacity Development Fund (UCDF) to provide technical assistance with a budget of $65 million over five years, and the Netherlands, Japan, Lithuania and Slovakia have become its first contributors for a total of $14.5 million.
“We are looking for $65 million over five years to expand (Ukraine’s) capacity development in the priority sectors supported by the IMF program. I am pleased to announce that donors have already pledged contributions of approximately $14.5 million. I am confident in your support for this initiative,” Georgieva said after a ministerial roundtable on Ukraine, which took place as part of the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, which ended on Sunday in Marrakech.
It is specified that the Netherlands’ contribution to the fund amounted to $7 million.
The official event to launch the fund on the sidelines of the IMF and WB meetings was attended by IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath, Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko, NBU Governor Andriy Pyshnyi and his deputy Sergii Nikolaychuk, as well as representatives of the four countries.
“These contributions will support the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities to stabilize macroeconomic conditions and restore the post-war economy while implementing comprehensive reforms that are consistent with Ukraine’s EU accession goals,” the IMF said in a statement announcing the creation of the UCDF.
Pyshny thanked the IMF for launching the new fund. He emphasized the importance of international financial assistance for Ukraine, reforming the Ukrainian economy, and strengthening the institutional capacity of the authorities.
Capacity Development Fund, JAPAN, LITHUANIA, NETHERLANDS, SLOVAKIA
Lithuania has agreed on a corridor for the transit of Ukrainian grain to Baltic ports, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said.
“Russia destroys food, Lithuania delivers it. A corridor for grain transit to Baltic ports has been approved and agreed upon, which eases pressure on the Ukrainian border and increases supplies to Africa and beyond. Cooperation gives results!” he wrote on Twitter.
Earlier, it was reported that veterinary, sanitary and phytosanitary control would be moved from the Ukrainian-Polish border to the port of Klaipeda (Lithuania) for all agricultural cargoes heading to this port within two days. This will speed up transit through Poland.
Ukraine and Lithuania intend to resume passenger rail transportation on the Kyiv-Warsaw-Vilnius route, move veterinary and phytosanitary inspections of transit cargo from Ukrainian-Polish border crossings to the port of Klaipeda, and start Ukrainian airlines flying from the country’s airports, Deputy Minister of Community, Territorial and Infrastructure Development Oleksandra Azarkhina wrote on Facebook.
According to her, these issues were discussed at a meeting of the Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Lithuanian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation chaired by Deputy Prime Minister for the Reconstruction of Ukraine and Minister of Community Development, Territories and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov and Minister of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania Aushrine Armonaitė.
“Regarding cooperation in the transport sector, we discussed the main directions of restoring and expanding transport links between Ukraine and Lithuania. Namely: the possibility of resuming passenger transportation by rail and further development of the Kyiv-Warsaw-Vilnius route; bilateral cooperation with the involvement of EU institutions to include Yahodyn-Dorogousk in the Trans-European Transport Network; transfer of veterinary and phytosanitary inspections of transit cargo from Ukrainian-Polish border crossings to the port of Klaipeda; development of new routes for the transportation of goods through Poland, which will increase cargo turnover and expand the range of railroad services.
It is noted that, according to the Lithuanian side, the facilitation of procedural requirements at the Ukrainian-Polish border will allow transporting up to 500 thousand tons of Ukrainian agricultural products per year to the port of Klaipeda. Lithuania also plans to install bogie change terminals for railroad tracks, which will also help increase cargo turnover between the two countries.
In addition to the development of railway communication, the Lithuanian side suggested that Ukrainian airlines consider starting operations in Lithuania and participating in national tenders for strategic destinations.
“We have agreed to deepen cooperation in the aviation sector and hope to resume air travel between Lithuania and Ukraine in the near future,” Azarkhina wrote.
Earlier, Lithuania confirmed the need for the EU to subsidize the transportation of Ukrainian grain through Klaipeda.
KYIV, LITHUANIA, passenger rail transportation, UKRAINE, VILNIUS, WARSAW
