Astarta has sold Savyntsi and Novoivanivske sugar factories due to a lack of raw materials and sugar beet producers in Kharkiv region, the press service of the company has said.
The manufacturer clarified that it intends to free up internal resources in favor of the main sugar factories in Poltava, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytsky regions through the sale of non-core assets.
Astarta also noted that in 2020 the company focused on increasing the profitability of the sugar segment and optimizing production by focusing on key sugar factories.
According to the company, export of sugar from Ukraine has been under pressure from low prices in the domestic and international markets for several years, which led to the withdrawal of some producers from the market and a decrease in production.
The co-owner of the agricultural holding, Viktor Ivanchyk, said in November 2020 that Astarta planned to sell these assets.
“Last year we worked without Savyntsi plant, and this year without Novoivanivske plant in Kharkiv region. Sugar beet is not grown around these enterprises due to weather conditions. Kharkiv region is one of the regions where the drought is most acute,” he explained.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 animals, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region.
