Business news from Ukraine

“Agroton” will carry out sowing on 5 thousand hectares in Kharkiv region

Agroton Agrarian Group now controls the property and 5 thousand hectares of land bank in Kharkiv region out of 110 thousand hectares in Kharkiv and Luhansk regions that were previously under cultivation, the group reported on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

According to the report, Agroton is currently involved in clearing farmland and preparing for spring field work.

As noted, the company has no control over the property and land in the occupied Luhansk region, so its employees have left.

The management of the agroholding promises to provide shareholders with reports on all requirements after the end of the war in Ukraine.

“Agroton” has been working in the Ukrainian market since 1992 and before the full-scale Russian military invasion it specialized in growing grains and oilseeds, producing and selling livestock products. The land bank of Agroton before the war was about 110 thousand hectares in Lugansk and Kharkiv regions. The group owns two poultry farms in Lugansk region.

“Agroton” reported in 2022 that representatives of the so-called “LNR” and OJSC “Agrocomplex named after N.I. Tkachev” (Russian Federation) “seized” all the assets of its parent company Agroton Public Limited in the Luhansk region on May 21, 2022. The management of the group applied to the law enforcement bodies of Ukraine with a request for a legal assessment and bringing to justice those involved in the seizure of its property.

According to the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, Russian occupants with the participation of collaborators – citizens of Ukraine stole 20 thousand tons of grain from “Agroton” elevators, as well as collected from its fields and exported to Russia 200 thousand tons of crop 2022. In addition, the invaders stole 40 vehicles to Russia.

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LOANS TO FARMERS FOR SOWING IN 2022 IN WAR CONDITIONS EXCEED UAH 31 BLN – MINISTRY

Ukrainian banking institutions from the middle of March to May 25, under the government program to support the sowing season 2022, provided loans to farmers for a total of UAH 31.5 billion, including loans and portfolio guarantees for UAH 3.4 billion.
According to the data published on the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, 80% (UAH 20.3 billion) of loans provided were portfolio guarantees, while a total of 13,060 agricultural producers received access to financing (last week it was 1,740).
Most loans for the sowing season were attracted by farmers of Kirovohrad (UAH 4.91 billion), Kyiv (UAH 3.37 billion), Vinnytsia (UAH 2.92 billion), Dnipropetrovsk (UAH 2.52 billion) and Odesa regions (UAH 2.48 billion).
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, loans up to UAH 60 million as part of the support for the 2022 sowing season are issued at 0% per annum (under the government financial support program Affordable Loans 5-7-9%). The term of such lending is up to six months, and after its completion, the interest rate for borrowers will be 5% per annum. Such financing can be used by farmers who fall under the definition of an agricultural producer.

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IN SOUTH OF KIEV REGION SOWING CONTINUES, IN NORTH IN NUMBER OF AREAS THERE IS NO COMMUNICATION AND ELECTRICITY

Communications and power supply are still missing in the Ivankivska, Dymerska and Polesie united territorial communities of the Vyshgorodsky district of the Kiev region, previously liberated from occupation, measures are being taken to normalize the situation and restore infrastructure in them, said the head of the Kiev regional military administration Oleksandr Pavlyuk.
“The Vyshgorod, Petrovskaya and Pirnovskaya communities are unchanged, the population is provided with the necessary assistance … Slavutych still needs food and medicine,” Pavlyuk wrote in Telegram on Tuesday.
In the Buchansky and Brovarsky districts, where the fighting took place, demining and clearing work continues. Emergency teams are working to restore water, electricity and gas supply. Law enforcement officers fix the crimes caused by the invaders against the civilian population.
In Obukhovsky, Borispolsky, Belotserkovsky and Fastovsky districts of the Kiev region, according to the head of the regional administration, the situation is calm and controlled. “The sowing campaign continues. Critical infrastructure facilities are operating as usual,” Pavlyuk wrote.

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LOANS TO FARMERS FOR SOWING REACHED UAH 1.79 BILLION

Ukrainian banking institutions for the period from mid-March to April 5 issued loans to farmers as part of the state program to support the sowing campaign in the context of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine for a total of UAH 1.79 billion, according to the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine on Wednesday.
At the same time, it is specified that currently 80% (UAH 1.5 billion) of the provided borrowed funds were portfolio guarantees, and 900 agricultural producers from different regions of the country received access to financing.
Most of all loans for the specified period were attracted by farmers of Kirovohrad region – UAH 405 million (22% of the total), Vinnitsa region – UAH 365 million (20.4%), Dnepropetrovsk region – UAH 267 million (14.9%), Odessa region – UAH 161 million (9%) and Lviv – UAH 159 million (8%) regions.
According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, loans up to UAH 60 million under this program are issued at 0% per annum (under the state financial support program “Affordable loans 5-7-9%”). The term of such lending is up to 6 months, and after its completion, the interest rate for borrowers will be 5% per annum. Agrarians falling under the definition of an agricultural producer can use the loan.
“Lending to farmers is one of the main priorities of banks. The conditions for granting loans are simplified as much as possible. Moreover, banks lend to our farmers even in those regions where there are battles, because they need to sow, and (…) people go out to their fields,” the ministry quotes its head of Nikolai Solsky.
The agency clarified that the government program to support the sowing campaign is being implemented by the Cabinet of Ministers, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy, the National Bank and the banking sector.
As reported, at the end of March, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine expanded the procedure for issuing guarantees for agricultural producers on loans on a portfolio basis for the purchase of the resources they need for the sowing campaign in 2022, since due to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, part of the farmers lost working capital for carrying out spring work.
Thus, within the framework of portfolio lending to agricultural producers, they will be able to obtain loans for the purchase of fertilizers, plant protection products, pesticides and agrochemicals, fuel, spare parts for agricultural equipment, as well as for replenishment of fixed assets and intangible assets, wages, rent of real estate and movable property, works and services for its operations.
The total budget of this program to support the 2022 sowing season is UAH 50 billion.

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MINISTER OF AGRARIAN POLICY OF UKRAINE RECOMMENDS SOWING SUNFLOWER, RAPESEED, SOYBEANS THIS YEAR

The state recommends that farmers sow crops with the maximum unit value, so that in the face of problems in the country with the export of agricultural products due to the military invasion of the terrorist country of the Russian Federation, they receive maximum revenue from the sale of relatively small batches of agricultural raw materials, according to the website of the department with reference to its head Nikolai Solsky.

At the same time, the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food on the air of the “UA-marathon” on Monday advised agricultural producers to grow high-margin and relatively easy-to-logistics sunflower, rapeseed and soybeans. According to the agency, the biggest challenge for the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex remains the issue of exporting agricultural crops from the country.

“A significant limitation of export logistics opportunities directly affects how much grain farmers and agrarians can sell – respectively, how much money they need to get for wages, sowing, payments to tenants, and the like. This is the most difficult thing,” the minister said. According to Solsky, due to Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy expects in 2022 a reduction in the sown area of ​​spring crops by 20.5%, or 3.5 million hectares – to 13.44 million hectares from 16.92 million hectares in 2021 year.

The Minister also pointed to the presence of a certain forecasted shortage of fuel, but at the moment Ukrainian farmers have access to fuel for sowing. “It is clear that the sowing season is just beginning, and the amount of fuel needs to be increased, but in a market economy with such an enterprising conscious people as ours, especially with farmers, a solution will be found,” he stressed.

At the same time, it is clarified that the priorities of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy at present are the establishment of logistics, enabling farmers to continue working and earning income, keeping businesses from closing, providing shareholder the opportunity to receive rent, as well as employment of workers in the agro-industrial complex. Solsky emphasized in the message that today all states need to adequately and deeply understand the complexity of the situation and make every effort to stop the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. “After all, any continuation of the war is a rise in the cost of products for all countries, including even those who had not thought about it before,” the minister summed up.

As reported, as of April 1, Ukraine sowed 0.60 million hectares with basic agricultural crops, which is 4.4% of the 13.44 million hectares planned for the current season.

Sowing of spring crops has already started in 21 regions of Ukraine, whereas last year 15 regions started sowing on the same date. The total area sown with spring barley as of April 1 amounted to 327.3 thousand hectares, spring wheat – 81.0 thousand hectares, peas – 62.3 thousand hectares, oats – 50.1 thousand hectares, sunflower – 33.7 thousand hectares ha, sugar beet – 30.6 thousand ha, soybean – 10.4 thousand ha, spring rapeseed – 7.6 thousand ha. Due to the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, a decrease in the sown areas of high-margin crops (sunflower and corn) is expected this season, while increasing the sown areas of crops that are easier to produce, but important in terms of food security – peas, barley and oats.

SOWING CAMPAIGN AMID QUARANTINE STARTS QUITE WELL IN ALL UKRAINIAN REGIONS

The sowing campaign amid quarantine started quite well in all regions of Ukraine, the pace is approximately the same as in 2019, with a slight advance due to early spring, Director General of UkrAgroConsult consulting agency Serhiy Feofilov has said.
“The import component in sowing resource is still very high. Nevertheless, the main material and technical resources were imported into Ukraine and purchased by farms before the quarantine and the devaluation. The negative impact on cost of production is still minimal,” the agency said on UkrAgroConsult’s website, citing Feofilov.
Feofilov said that it is a positive point in the fact that corn seeds are mainly produced at Ukrainian seed plants, only parental forms are imported. The expansion of spring grain will be precisely due to corn. The situation with plant protection is almost the same, namely all needed is imported, except that the line of products will decrease against expectations, the top manager said.
“The situation is contradictory in terms of fuel. Fuel supply is sufficient and the main intrigue is the price level. On the one hand, we can expect it to decline after the oil falls. On the other hand, fuel sellers tend to price stabilization, given hryvnia devaluation and a possible reduction in supplies,” the director general of UkrAgroConsult said.

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