In 2024, TAS Agro invested $15 million in new equipment and infrastructure, and in 2025 it will continue to upgrade it, with livestock farming, design of bioethanol and biogas plants, and expansion of the land bank as priorities, the company’s CEO Oleg Zapletnyuk said in an interview with Forbes Ukraine.
“Over the past year, we have restarted the company (…) We have attracted financing for equipment. The money was used to improve working conditions and operational activities. Our strategy does not yet include a sharp increase in assets, so we are lending on a limited basis. Our focus is on increasing efficiency,” he said.
According to the CEO of the agricultural holding, TAS Agro purchased 14 John Deere tractors, 167 units of trailed equipment, loaders, seeders, manipulators, 45 Renault Duster pickups for agronomists, and 6 buses for transportation of employees in the 2024 season.
In addition, TAS Agro has begun building modern workshops and offices in the regions of its presence, and has set up service centers to repair equipment in the field.
In 2025, the agroholding intends to continue updating its equipment and complete the creation of anchor facilities in clusters: offices, warehouses, gas stations, for which it will allocate $7 million.
At the same time, the updated technology park allowed the agricultural holding to adjust its tillage technology and switch to deep loosening, vertical tillage, and strip-till sowing of rapeseed and wheat instead of plowing.
“This helped us reduce emissions and receive up to $800,000 in carbon certificates as part of a program to reduce our carbon footprint. How does it work? Each production facility in the EU has an emissions quota, and if a company cannot meet it, it buys a certificate from those who have reduced emissions on the stock exchange. This is a pretty good way for Ukrainian agricultural companies,” said Mr. Zapletniuk.
The agricultural holding has prioritized livestock production. In October 2024, TAS Agro transferred the buffalo farm TASbio to the management of TAS Agro. It produces cheeses that are sold in Le Silpo, Goodwine and Wine Time.
The agricultural holding plans to invest in the modernization of the dairy farm in 2025. “TAS Agro intends to build another farm for 1200 free-range cows, work with herd genetics, and introduce new approaches to feed production. In addition, the agroholding plans to improve herd housing and equip cattle facilities with climate control. Mr. Zapletnyuk added that Roshen buys milk from the agricultural holding mainly.
The agroholding plans to build bioethanol and biogas plants on the basis of dairy farms to create a closed production cycle.
“As for the energy sector, we are just developing a project. We will implement it in several stages by the end of 2027. The preliminary estimate of investments in biogas, bioethanol, and farm expansion is up to $15 million,” said Zapletniuk.
In addition, in 2024, TAS Agro bought an elevator with a storage capacity of 40 thousand tons in Chernihiv region. Along with it, a seed plant was sold, which also has a storage capacity of 10 thousand tons. The acquired assets, according to the CEO, will allow the agricultural holding to solve the storage problem and improve logistics. “TAS Agro plans to launch the acquired seed plant, which will produce wheat and soybean seeds.
At the same time, TAS Agro bought 2.5 thousand hectares of corporate rights in Vinnytsia region for long-term lease in the 2024 season. The plan for the next year is to expand the land bank by at least 10 thousand hectares to 90-95 thousand hectares.
Thanks to the resumption of the work of Ukrainian seaports, the agricultural holding has abandoned plans to acquire its own fleet and is no longer considering such investments, summarized the CEO of TAS Agro.
TAS Agro was established in 2014. Its land bank includes 88 thousand hectares in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad and Mykolaiv regions. The holding specializes in crop production, with elevators with a capacity of about 250 thousand tons. The livestock business is represented by a cattle herd of 5.5 thousand heads, of which 2.5 thousand heads are dairy cattle.
According to the Opendatabot resource, the company’s revenue in 2023 amounted to UAH 2.588 billion, net profit – UAH 155.842 million, debt – UAH 1.2 billion, assets were estimated at UAH 1.8653 billion, and the number of employees – 129. The authorized capital is UAH 8 thousand.
The agricultural holding is part of the TAS group, which was founded in 1998. Its business interests include the financial sector (banking and insurance segments) and pharmacy, as well as industry, real estate, and venture capital projects.
The founder of TAS and the beneficiary of TAS Agro is Sergiy Tigipko.
