Imports of tractors to Ukraine in January-November this year amounted to $722.53 million, which is almost 7% less than in the same period in 2023, according to statistics from the State Customs Service.
According to the statistics released by the agency, tractors were mainly imported from Germany (15.2% of total imports of this equipment, or $110 million), China (13.9%, or $100 million) and the United States (13.5%, or $97.3 million), while a year earlier it was Germany (17%), Poland (almost 16%) and the Netherlands (13%).
At the same time, in November, Ukraine imported tractors worth $61.9 million, up 33.6% compared to the same month last year.
According to the statistics, in January-November, tractors worth almost $5 million were exported, compared to $5.47 a year earlier, mainly to Moldova (25.8%), Kazakhstan (14.8%) and the Czech Republic (11.8%).
OKKO network has signed a new contract for the purchase of 30 tractor trucks from the Swedish manufacturer Scania with a total value of EUR 3.3 million.
“10 of these trucks have already been delivered to OKKO’s transport divisions, and another 20 units are expected to arrive in December,” the company said on its website on Friday.
At the beginning of 2024, the OKKO network has already purchased 22 SUPER R 460 truck tractors and 10 more Everlast tank semi-trailers. In total, in 2022-2024, about EUR 30 million was invested in the renewal of the fleet.
“Thus, over the past few years, OKKO’s fleet has been renewed by more than half,” the company said.
Currently, OKKO has more than 250 vehicles for the transportation of gasoline, diesel fuel, liquefied gas and bitumen. At the same time, the company donated some of the vehicles that were withdrawn from the fleet, but still suitable and additionally repaired, for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, these are eight tractor-trailers and fuel tanker semi-trailers, as well as two air refueling semi-trailers.
OKKO filling stations network is a part of OKKO Group. It is one of the largest filling stations networks in Ukraine, with about 400 filling stations.
The founder and ultimate beneficiary of the group is Vitaliy Antonov.
Production of tractor, mounted and trailed mowers in Ukraine decreased 83.3% over 2017-2020 – from 3,590 items to 600 items, while their imports (excluding imports from China) tripled – from 1,430 items to 4,240 items, the current trend threatens to completely oust this domestic equipment from the Ukrainian market. This was announced by the national research center Institute of Agrarian Economics on the website on Thursday.
According to the institution, in 2017, production of mowers in Ukraine amounted to 3,590 items, in 2018 – 1,550 items, in 2019 – 1,110 items, in 2020 – 600 items, and in the first half of 2021 – 250 items.
At the same time, imports of this equipment to Ukraine (excluding imports from China) amounted to 1,430 items in 2017, some 1,550 items in 2018, some 3,530 items in 2019, and in 2020 – 4,240 items, while in the first half of 2021, some 3,190 items were imported.
Thus, in the first half of the year, the share of mowers produced in Ukraine was 7.2% in the Ukrainian market of this equipment, while in 2017 it was 10 times higher – 71.6%. The institute clarified that this statistics does not take into account data on mowers imported from China, given which the decrease in the share of Ukrainian equipment in the market may turn out to be even more significant.
“The current situation testifies to the gradual abandonment of domestic mowers in favor of foreign ones, a wide range of which allows an agricultural enterprise to choose equipment in accordance with its own capabilities and needs,” Institute of Agrarian Economics researcher Yaroslav Navrotsky is quoted in the report.
The researcher emphasized that in order to reduce the growing dependence on imports of machinery in general and mowers in particular, Ukraine needs to create favorable conditions for attracting foreign investors, as well as to establish production of world-class mowers in Ukraine by organizing joint ventures.
As reported, in January-July 2021, farmers received UAH 546 million from the state budget under the program of partial compensation for the cost of domestic agricultural machinery and equipment.
Minsk Tractor Plant plans in 2020 to provide Ukrainian dealers with about 5,000 tractors and tractor sets of various modifications.
According to the report on the plant’s website, the corresponding contracts were signed with dealers during the exhibition of large-sized equipment at the Second Forum of Regions of Belarus and Ukraine in Zhytomyr on October 3-4, which gathered 15 Belarusian manufacturers of equipment and ten Ukrainian producers.
At the exhibition, the plant presented seven models of Belarus tractors, including Belarus 320.4 for small farms and Belarus 82.1, Belarus 892.2, Belarus 3522.5 for large farms.
OJSC Minsk Tractor Plant is one of the largest agricultural equipment manufacturers in the world. In addition to the plant, the holding includes nine enterprises, 26 assembly facilities abroad. More than 17,000 people work in production, while products are presented in the markets of more than 60 countries.
