Agriculture

Friday, November 26

The production of sunflower oil in Ukraine has decreased in September-October 2021 by 13.5% compared to the same period last year. However, according to the results of the 2021/2022 marketing year, production is expected to grow by more than 24%, reported Ukroliyaprom. This happened due to the restraint of the sale of sunflower seeds by agricultural producers in anticipation of the growth of the prices for the given raw materials.

Thursday, November 25

The main principles of the Partial Loan Guarantee Fund to farmers was presented by the Ministry of Agriculture. It will allocate UAH 24 bln ($900 mln) to finance farmers. The Fund’s authorized capital is UAH 3 bln ($112 mln), said the Minister of Agriculture of Ukraine, Roman Leshchenko. The Fund will provide guarantees of up to 50% of the outstanding principal amount and guarantees for the term of the loan agreement, but not more than 10 years. The primary condition – the ownership or use of farmers should be no more

Wednesday, November 24

Ukreximbank sells loan claims for grain terminal in Ochakiv port. The state-owned bank has put the right of claim for sale under a loan agreement secured by a mortgage on a grain terminal at the Ochakiv seaport. The starting price is UAH 36.7 mln ($1.4 mln), and the auction is scheduled to be held on December 13, 2021. The grain complex is equipped with modern equipment for reception, storage, and transshipment of grain crops; technological processes are automated. Delivery of goods to the port can be carried out by road,

Tuesday, November 23

The SPFU returned 2,500 hectares of illegally confiscated agricultural land to the state. This land was previously confiscated unlawfully from state-owned companies. “For many years, various business people have become accustomed to profiting from state property. This will not happen. We are struggling with this and are already working to return another 15,000 hectares”, said Director of SPFU, Dmitry Sennichenko.

The first electronic land auction to be held in Kyiv. The city authorities made this announcement. The head of the Kyiv Digital Transformation Administration, Petro Olenych, said that the Kyiv administration stated that it was possible to update the information and select plots due to the inventory of the city’s lands. The deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration believes that e-bidding “will make the sphere of land relations more transparent” and increase revenues to the city budget. The first electronic land auctions are planned to be held at

Monday, November 22

Ukraine has already harvested 76.7 mln tons of grain, on an area of 14.9 mln hectares announced the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food. On average, the yield from 14.9 hectares was 51.6 centners per hectare, 76.7 mln tons of grain were harvested. Corn – 8 mln tons were threshed on an area of 4.4 mln hectares, with a 72.2 c / ha yield. Buckwheat,7 thousand tons were threshed on an area of 83.5 thousand hectares, with a yield of 13.3 c / ha. Millet – 7 thousand tons

Friday, November 19

As part of its plan to diversify its business, MHP has started to produce beef. The company purchased the beef producer, Lubnymyaso for $1.84 mln. Located in Lubny in the Poltava region, the company produces and sells beef under the Scott Meat brand. “The move into beef production is part of a program to transform MHP into a culinary company with a focus on value-added products”, said MHP’s Financial Director (Interfax).

Information on land allocation in Ukraine has appeared on the Public Cadastral Map. A new “Information on land unbundling” with data on individual, collective agricultural enterprises has appeared on the Public Cadastral Map (map.land.gov.ua). It will provide information on the results of privatization and location of land plots, even for those lands that were not registered in the State Land Cadaster and State Register of Real Rights announced land.gov.ua.

Wednesday, November 17

The Parliament of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, has unblocked the signing of the law on the loan guarantee fund for farmers. The Verkhovna Rada rejected resolutions repealing the decision to pass a Partial Guarantee Fund for Agriculture law. According to the bill, farmers who cultivate up to 500 hectares will have guarantees from the state to obtain loans from financial institutions. The Fund will provide warranties of up to 50% of the outstanding principal amount and guarantees for the term of the loan agreement, but not more than ten years.

Expansion of trade and technical cooperation between Canada and Ukraine was discussed in a meeting with Canadian Ambassador, Larisa Galadza, and Minister of Agrarian Policy, Roman Leshchenko. “Canada’s technical assistance can help create economic opportunities and increase employment in rural areas, improve and increase production, create economies of scale for farmers’ cooperatives, and increase the income of small and medium-sized farmers, especially women”, said the Minister.

Tuesday, November 16

The world leader in the production of irrigation systems plans to enter the Ukrainian market. The entry of the US company, Valmont Industries, was announced by the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Roman Leshchenko. Valmont Industries has a 75-year history of full-cycle irrigation equipment with a capitalization of more than $5 billion.

Ukraine exported 21,753 thousand tons of grain crops as of November 15th , 3,018 thousand tons more than in the same period last marketing year. Grains supplied to foreign markets were: 13,194 thousand tons of wheat, 4,763 thousand tons of barley, 71.8 thousand tons of rye, and 3,608 thousand tons of corn.

Friday, November 12

Exports of Ukrainian agricultural products increased by almost 17% in the first nine months of 2021. As a result, the exports of agro-food products amounted to $ 18.2 bln. This amount is $ 2.6 bln or nearly 17% higher than the corresponding figure for nine months of 2020, announced by the Institute of Agrarian Economics. The main markets for Ukrainian agricultural products are three regions: the EU, Asia, and Africa. These markets account for more than 97% of the value of Ukrainian agricultural exports.

Saudi Arabia will buy Ukrainian black caviar. Ukraine and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have agreed on a form of certificate for products exported from Ukraine derived from aquatic animals (caviar, seafood, etc.). “The market of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is crucial for Ukraine. Therefore, we expect to export to Saudi Arabia black caviar made in Ukraine, “ said the Head of the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, Vladyslava Magaletska.

Thursday, November 11

The State Grain Corporation is resuming its agricultural production, announced a press release on Facebook. Velykolepetysky Elevator has a sown area of 4,800 hectares. The sowing of winter wheat on an area of 540 hectares has resumed. Winter barley was also planted on an area of 700 hectares. In the future, the State Grain Corporation plans to sow winter wheat on a total of 2,100 hectares.

Wednesday, November 10

The Deposit Guarantee Fund will auction 11 land plots that are owned by Arkada Bank. The fund reminded investors of the opportunity to purchase land plots of JSCB “ARKADA” located in the village of Mykhailivka-Rubezhivka, Kyiv-Sviatoshynskyi district, Kyiv region. The resale of these assets will take place on November 23, 2021, in the Prozorro.Sales system. In total, 11 land plots with a total area of 86.5 ha, intended for personal farming, will be put up for auction in separate lots.

The government will attract up to €250 mln in loans from the USA. The Cabinet of Ministers will approve the loan from the US agricultural company, Cargill. The maturity of the three-year loan will be at 5.15%, and the five-year loan at 5.85%.

Tuesday, November 9

The Agrarian Fund has confirmed that it has lost ₴2.14 bln. The funds which equate to $81.4 mln placed in accounts of the bankrupt Brokbusinessbank in 2014, and were not returned to the company after the bank’s liquidation. The Agrarian Fund was founded in 2003 by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and positions itself on the market as a guarantor of the food security of Ukraine. It is currently managed by the Ministry of Economy.

Monday, November 8

Farmers of the Odesa region will receive state compensation for the lost harvest, announced minagro.gov.ua. Farmers will receive ₴4,700 ($178) per hectare of state compensation for damage to crops due to emergencies of man-made and natural nature. “The small farms create jobs in rural areas, and the financial support from the state will help them not to lose a year and replant or change the crop”, said the Minister, Taras Vysotsky.

Friday, November 5

The Verkhovna Rada passed a law establishing a Credit Guarantee Fund for farmers. The new law is designed to support small and medium businesses, including farms, by providing loan guarantees of up to 50% of the outstanding amount of principal for up to 10 years.

Thursday, November 4

The Cabinet of Ministers plans to approve a methodology for the valuation of land plots. They will consider a draft resolution approving the methodology of regulatory monetary valuation of land, said the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Roman Leshchenko.

Low apple prices lead to a farming crisis. This year’s apple harvest in Ukraine has exceeded demand. This is problematic for farmers as it is impossible to sell fruit profitably, reported Ukraine 24 TV channel. Since the beginning of October, prices have fallen by 20-30%. This is a problem for apple farmers, as they have taken out loans to invest in growing these trees.

Monday, November 1

Ukraine has harvested 7.7 mln tons of sugar beets from 164.6 thousand hectares. According to Minagro, there are currently 29 sugar factories in Ukraine. In the 2021/2022 marketing year, sugar production is expected to reach 1.4 mln tons, which is 30% more than in 2020/2021.

The contribution of the harvest to real GDP growth this year will be 0.8%, according to the National Bank. A harvest plays a significant role in the recovery of Ukraine’s economy after the Covid crisis and the growing importance of agricultural production in Ukraine’s economy.

Friday, October 29

Government support for the agro-industrial complex should be at 1% of GDP. The Ministry of Agrarian Policy, Roman Leshchenko, said, “We have already defended the position of ₴4.6 bln ($174 mln) for the agro-industrial complex (for 2022). We are in dialogue with the Ministry of Finance to bring state support to 1% of GDP”, said Leshchenko said. The support is valued at ₴8-9 bln ($342 mln), which should be allocated to the agricultural sector.

10 million hectares of land in Ukraine are cultivated unofficially. According to the State Tax Service, the area of agricultural land, the cultivation of which is not officially recorded, is 10 million hectares, or one-sixth of the area of Ukraine, said the acting head of the State Tax Service, Yevhen Oleynikov. About 10 mln hectares is 100 thousand square kilometers, which is more than the entire area of Hungary.

Thursday, October 28

As of today, 14% of Ukrainian farmland owners are not aware of the opening of the land market for sale. According to the results of the All-Ukrainian sociological survey “Land Market in Ukraine”, 85.9% of landowners know about the opening of the market, and 14.1% do not know at all. In Ukraine: 80.8% of landholders lease land; 14.5% use land to cultivate personally; 4.7% do not cultivate and do not lease; 61.4% of landholders lease land to farmers; and 36.3% to agricultural holdings. The periods of lease holds vary: 52.1% of unitholders lease from 7 to 10 years; 19% from

Wednesday, October 27

Harvest of grain and oilseeds may exceed 100 mln tons. “This year Ukraine has set a record by harvesting more than 100 mln tons of grain and oilseeds”, said Minister of Agrarian Policy, Roman Leshchenko, at a meeting with representatives of Polish and Ukrainian investors.

Farmers to receive more than a $1 bln in affordable loans, under the program “Affordable loans 5-7-9%”. “We have launched a very powerful program 5-7-9, which has provided more than a billion dollars in cheap loans for Ukrainian farmers to upgrade fixed assets, to invest,” said Minister of Agrarian Policy, Roman Leshchenko.

Monday, October 25

The volume of the shadowland lease market has increased from UAH 20 bln ($760 mln) to UAH 70 bln ($2.66 bln) annually, reported gov.ua. At the meeting of the Interdepartmental Working Group on De-Shading of the Economy, several measures to bring the economy “out of the shadows” were considered. The agency said that the biggest problem arises with communal lands, a significant part of which has not yet been entered into the State Cadaster.

Friday, October 22

The maximum volume of wheat exports is expected to reach 25.3 million tons – announced by the Ministry of Agriculture. Ukraine will be able to export no more than 25.3 million tons of wheat in the 2021/2022 marketing year (MR). The Ministry organizes the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry and grain market participants to ensure food security, avoid the use of export restrictions, ensure the projected grain export regime and stabilize the grain market in Ukraine.

Thursday, October 21

The European Commission has completed its audit of Ukrainian diary products, and confirmed the high quality of them, reported gov.ua . The audit was necessary to certify the production of milk and dairy products from Ukraine, which are intended for export to the European Union.

Ukrainian poultry producers to export to Georgia, (mfa.gov.ua). Ukraine and Georgia have agreed on the form of a certificate for the export of meat, offal, and other poultry products from Ukraine. This new export market will produce more foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine, strengthening the value of the hryvnia, increasing local taxes, and creating employment in the rural sector.

The Grain Association has developed a new bank guarantee mechanism for forward contracts . A presentation of a new mechanism will allow exporters to get a higher price through a reliability premium, reduce the risk of potential losses to buyers and guarantee the reliability of suppliers,” said the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, Roman Leshchenko.

Tuesday, October 19

Ukraine increased Grain exports by 11.7% . During the marketing year July 2021/June 2022, Ukraine had boosted grain export to 16,536,000 tons, Ukrainian News Agency has reported. Ukraine has exported 10,737,000 tons of wheat, 4,022,000 tons of barley, 52,200 tons of rye, and 1,540,000 tons of corn. On the other hand, Ukraine had lowered the exportation of wheat flour and flour made from other crops by 33.4% and cut grain exportation by 21% or 12 million tons year over year to 44.7 million tons.

In Ukraine, the number of all types of agricultural stock is decreasing. As of October 1, 2021, the number of main species of farm animals decreased by 1.7-6.7% in comparison with the same period in 2020, as reported by the Statistics Service of Ukraine.

Milk production in Ukraine has also decreased. In January-September 2021, milk production declined by 6.1% compared to the same period in 2020, to 6.81 million tons, reported the State Statistics Service. Most milk for this period was produced in the regions of Poltava, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytsky.

Egg production has decreased. In January-September 2021, egg production in Ukraine decreased by 14.1% compared to the same period in 2020. According to the State Statistics Service, the largest number of eggs during this period was produced in regions of Kyiv, Cherkasy and Zhytomyr. The lowest volumes of egg production were in Lugansk, Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.

Ukraine will compete as the destination of the World Exhibition “Expo-2030”, putting forward Odesa as the host city. The official application was submitted by the Ukrainian delegation to the International Exhibitions Bureau in Paris. Should Ukraine succeed, reported theodessajournal. The World Exhibition will be held in Odessa for six months, from May 1 to October 31, 2030. The theme proposed by Ukraine is: “Renaissance. Technologies. Future”.

Monday, October 18

Ukrainian notaries have registered 29,500 land transactions. As of October 13, 2021, 29,493 agreements were concluded within the land market (Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine). “In total, there were 5,759 applications, of which 5,094 were approved, 3 were in the queue for consideration, and 662 were rejected,” a statement from the Ministry announced.

Thursday, October 14

The Ministry of Agriculture wants to replace the right of free privatization in “physical” hectares with the right to a fixed discount on the purchase and lease of state land, announced the Minister, Roman Leshchenko. This discount will be the same and guaranteed for all citizens, plus additional benefits will be provided for veterans and some other categories of citizens. According to Leshchenko, free privatization of land in its current format is a tool that allows abusing this right.

Wednesday, October 13

The Government will support farmers who use land irrigation technology. In a recent announcement, the Prime Minister, Denys Shmyhal, said that the state will reimburse 25% of the costs of agricultural producers who have installed or modernized irrigation systems on their farms. “Modernization of the land irrigation system will increase their yields at least twice, thereby contributing to GDP growth and job creation. This year, the non-refundable subsidy for farmers under the relevant program will amount to UAH 50 mln ($1.9 mln)”, said Shmyhal.

Ukrzaliznytsia transported a record 3.8 million tons of grain in September 2021. The company shipped an average of 118,900 tons per day, which is 30.6% more than in September 2020 and 10.6% more than in September 2019. “The company has every opportunity to export a record amount of grain this year”, said Director of Commercial, Oleksandr Zaruba.

Monday, October 11

Continental Farmers Group opened an agricultural potato storage the facility in the village of Chukva (Lviv region). The facility has the capacity to store up to 16,000 tons of potatoes, and the total cost of investment in the construction of the facility was UAH 111.4 mln ($4.3 mln), according to the firm’s website.

Friday, October 8

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine has announced that 26,898 land agreements have been registered in Ukraine. As of today, 26,898 agreements have been concluded within the land market. There was a total of 5,742 applications, of which 5,073 were approved, 7 were in the queue for consideration, and 662 were rejected. Until 2024, only Ukrainian citizens of Ukraine can purchase land with a limit of 100 hectares of agricultural land. The law on the land market prohibits foreigners from buying land.

The first land auction in the Prozorro.Sales system has been announced. The first auction for the lease of communal agricultural land has been announced in the state electronic trading system Prozorro.Sales on November 9, 2021. A 2.1-hectare plot of land was put up for auction by the Tavrichanska village council (Kherson region). The starting price of the annual lease is 10% of the regulatory monetary value of the site – UAH 5088. The land is leased for 7 years. The amount of the guaranteed fee required to participate in the auction,

Thursday, October 7

Land reform in Ukraine needs to be improved. On the 100-day anniversary of the land market, Ukrainian legislation lacks the last important link that will improve access to credit for small and medium farmers. For all Ukrainians to benefit from land reform, the Verkhovna Rada needs to pass a law on the Partial Guarantee Fund for Agriculture. Farmers want to protect their existing infrastructure investments, get working capital to grow their business.

The harvest of oilseeds in Ukraine in 2021 is estimated to be 23.2 million tons, which is a 19% increase in volume from the 2020 harvest. “Despite the expected record harvest, prices for Ukrainian agricultural products remain quite high. The main factors are the high price level in the main exporting countries against the backdrop of production decline risks, as well as the restraint of sales by Ukrainian farmers”.

Tuesday, October 5

Ukrainian honey has become one of the tops exported food products. Whilst we may see the main export goods for Ukraine are grain and iron ore, the export of honey is growing in both capacity and quality product. In 2020, Ukraine exported 80.8 thousand tons of honey, which is 45% more than in 2019. In recent years, the volume of honey production has increased twenty-fold. The export markets are the USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Malaysia, Lebanon, and Great Britain (DP World TIS). This growth means that Ukraine is becoming a

Friday, October 1

Agro-industrial exhibition of Ukraine “AgroExpo-2021” has opened in the Kirovograd region. UkraineInvest’s Executive Director Sergiy Tsivkach took part in the opening of the event where 510 companies are represented, and participant levels are expected to be 500. The exhibition which is one of the largest in Europe will feature the latest samples of domestic and international technology and equipment in the agro-industrial sphere.