The Ukrainian company Dairy Global Experts plans to raise $150 million for the construction in the Cherkasy region of a high-tech complex for the slaughter and primary processing of cattle, with a total estimated cost of $160 million, according to the Ukraine Investment Guide 2026, presented at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2026) in Gdańsk.
According to the document, the facility will have a capacity of up to 1,000 head of cattle per shift, or about 350 metric tons of cattle carcasses and up to 250 metric tons of finished products per day.
The plant plans to produce chilled and frozen carcasses and cuts, ground meat, burgers, sausage products, as well as by-products, including gelatin, collagen, and feed additives.
The main export markets are the European Union, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, as well as China and Southeast Asia.
The project is designed to comply with EU food safety requirements, animal welfare standards, and the HACCP system, as well as to allow for certification under Halal and Kosher standards.
According to the catalog, a pre-project feasibility study has already been prepared, and work is underway on the feasibility study and design and cost estimate documentation. The estimated project implementation period is four years. The payback period, based on a projected IRR of 22%, is seven years.
The enterprise’s suppliers will be farms that are members of the Milk Producers Association, which unites more than 150 farms.
Dairy Global Experts is a Ukrainian international consulting and agricultural company founded in 2024 that specializes in the development of dairy cattle farming, increasing livestock productivity, and agricultural technologies. The company also exports live cattle and meat and implements projects in collaboration with international organizations and private partners.
According to information on its website, the company provides technical support to 360 farms. In total, it has implemented 78 projects involving the reconstruction and construction of livestock complexes and has implemented 60 projects to automate production processes on commercial dairy farms. Its revenue last year grew by 90.2% to $9.1 million.
CATTLE, Cherkasy Oblast, Dairy Global Experts, INVESTMENT, meat processing
According to data from the State Customs Service, Ukraine exported 2,790 metric tons of live cattle in March 2026, which is 58% more than in February of this year and 12% higher than in March 2025, reported the Association of Milk Producers (AMP), citing data from the State Customs Service.
The industry association noted that revenue from livestock exports in March amounted to $5.26 million, which is 16% more than in February. In total, 5,530 tons of cattle worth $11.61 million were shipped to foreign markets in the first quarter of 2026. These figures are 6.1% and 10% higher, respectively, than the results for the same period last year.
A similar trend is observed in the meat segment. In particular, exports of fresh or chilled beef in March rose by 102% compared to the previous month, reaching 467.2 tons worth $3.69 million. Shipments of frozen beef increased by 31% to 1,670 tons, valued at $7.37 million.
“Ukraine has increased cattle exports amid high prices in export markets and a certain shortage of red meat globally. Low domestic purchase prices for raw milk served as an additional incentive for farmers, driving growth in sales of cattle for slaughter and export,” the UBA’s analytical department notes.
According to the association, the global beef shortage is being driven by high demand in the U.S. due to limited domestic supply ahead of the barbecue season. A similar situation exists in Brazil, where livestock prices have reached historic highs amid active exports to China. Australia is also reporting ten-year highs in production, attempting to compensate for the supply shortage in the Korean and Japanese markets.
At the same time, the negative price situation in Ukraine’s dairy market has led to a complete halt in the import of heifers: in March 2026, not a single head of breeding cattle was imported into the country.
Ukraine’s positive foreign trade balance in live cattle and beef trade amounted to $15.21 million as of the end of March.
In January 2026, Ukraine reduced exports of beef and cattle amid a seasonal lull, rising logistics costs, and declining demand, according to the Milk Producers Association (MPA), citing data from the State Customs Service.
The industry association noted that live cattle exports in January amounted to about 958 tons, which is 36% less than in December 2025 and 33% less than in January 2025. Foreign exchange earnings in this segment fell to $1.82 million, which is 46% less than in December 2025.
Exports of fresh or chilled beef in January this year decreased by 32% compared to December, to 292 tons, but significantly exceeded the volume of January last year, when it amounted to 21 tons. Revenue for this product in the reporting period amounted to $2.22 million.
The actual volume of frozen beef exports amounted to 966 tons, which is 34% less than in December and 31% less than in January 2025. The monetary proceeds amounted to almost $4.62 million.
“The decline in exports in January is likely due to increased shelling of port infrastructure, which led to higher logistics costs due to risk insurance and route changes. In addition, the market saw a traditional decline in demand at the beginning of the year after active purchases at the end of 2025,” said Georgiy Kukhiashvili, an analyst at the association, whose words are quoted in the report.
According to the UMA, beef imports also declined. In particular, purchases of chilled meat fell to 6 tons (-54% compared to the previous month), and frozen meat to 81 tons (-18%).
The foreign trade balance in January 2026 remained positive and amounted to $7.82 million, the UAA concluded.
Agricultural LLC (STOV) “Ratnivsky Agrarian” (Ratne, Volyn region) intends to obtain a permit for pollutant emissions for a reconstructed livestock complex in the village of Yakushiv (Kovel district), according to the website of the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture.
According to the official announcement, the project provides for the loose housing of cattle on deep litter in four cowsheds. Each of them is designed for 1,000 head, which will provide a total capacity of 4,000 head at a time.
It is expected that the complex will house 1,525 cows, 1,670 calves of various age groups, and 805 other cattle and bulls. During the warm season, the animals will be kept on pastures. The total time spent in the cowsheds will be no more than five months per year. Heat will be supplied to the cowsheds by a wood-fired boiler (200 kW). In addition, to ensure a reliable power supply, the complex is equipped with four diesel generators, each with a capacity of 50 kW.
The project has already undergone an environmental impact assessment (EIA), following which the Volyn Regional State Administration’s Department of Ecology and Natural Resources issued a positive conclusion at the end of December 2025. Since the capacity of the complex exceeds the threshold of 1,000 places for cattle, the facility falls under the second category of activities that may have a significant impact on the environment.
At the same time, calculations confirmed that there were no exceedances of the maximum permissible concentrations of pollutants, so no measures to forcibly reduce emissions are planned.
Ratnivsky Agrarian LLC was registered in 2011. It specializes in cattle breeding and fattening of breeding breeds using modern technologies.
According to data from the Opendatabot service, at the end of 2024, the company received income of UAH 259.1 million, net profit of UAH 17.53 million, has debt obligations of UAH 126.16 million, and assets are estimated at UAH 1.04 billion. According to the results of the first three quarters of 2025, its activities are characterized by further growth in assets: UAH 204.98 million in revenue, UAH 40.56 million in net profit, UAH 222.95 million in debt obligations, and assets increased to UAH 1.27 billion.
The authorized capital of STOV “Ratnivsky Agrarian” is UAH 48.144 million, and the ultimate beneficiary is Vita Shevchuk.
According to the Law “On Air Protection,” facilities are divided into three groups: the first includes enterprises that are required to implement the best available technologies (permission is issued by the Ministry of Economy); the second includes facilities on state registration, regulated at the OVA level; the third group includes entities with minimal impact. The EIA procedure is mandatory for livestock complexes with more than 1,000 head of cattle.
Ukraine has opened three new markets for cattle exports to Algeria, according to a press release from the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. According to the report, the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Ukrainian diplomatic institutions, and relevant ministries, have agreed on three forms of veterinary documents with the veterinary service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Fisheries of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria. These include, in particular, a veterinary health certificate form for the export of meat and breeding cattle, as well as cattle for fattening.
“The opening of three new export destinations for cattle to Algeria is an important result of the systematic work of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. In total, five new markets for Ukrainian animal products have been opened since the beginning of the year, which creates additional opportunities for domestic producers and contributes to strengthening Ukraine’s position in the international trade arena,” emphasized Sergey Tkachuk, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
The agency emphasized that the opening of these export markets is an important step in deepening trade and economic cooperation between Ukraine and Algeria and confirms the compliance of Ukrainian products with the veterinary requirements of the importing country.
The agreed forms of veterinary certificates have already been published on the official web portal of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in the section “International Cooperation” – “Veterinary and Safety” – “Certificates for export from Ukraine” at https://dpss.gov.ua/mizhnarodne-spivrobitnictv/veterinariya-ta-bezpechnist/sertifikati-na-eksport-z-ukrayini.
In Ukraine, in January-October 2025, the volume of cattle slaughter for beef in farms of all categories amounted to 286.2 thousand tons, which is 8% less than in the same period of 2024, according to the Association of Milk Producers (AMP).
The industry association specified that cattle slaughter volumes at agricultural enterprises decreased to 106.9 thousand tons (-3%), and at private farms – to 179.3 thousand tons (-11%) compared to January-October 2024.
The largest share (57%) of cattle slaughtered at agricultural enterprises was in the Kyiv (15.41 thousand tons), Poltava (13.33 thousand tons), Cherkasy (11.72 thousand tons), Vinnytsia (9.73 thousand tons), and Chernihiv (9.36 thousand tons) regions, according to the AVM.
