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Report of working visit to Nova Kakhovka

Nieuwsbericht | 17-10-2017 | 17:29

From 20-21st October the agricultural team of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine went on a working visit to Nova Kakhovka (Kherson region) together with 15 Dutch companies.

The region is particularly interesting due to large potential in cooperation in food processing, horticulture and potatoes. During the working visit a round table with local authorities took place, a Dutch-Ukrainian business forum and company visits.

Download the report in Pdf: 2017.10.10-11_Report_visit_Nova_Kakhovka

See the photos of the event:

10.Oct - https://www.facebook.com/DutchEmbassyUkraine/posts/1638432879542674

11.Oct - https://www.facebook.com/DutchEmbassyUkraine/photos/pcb.1642630955789533/1642627245789904/?type=3&theater

Borsch is widely known

While there are many varieties and debates about the best recipe and its origin, the traditional Ukrainian soup Borsch is widely known as a hearty soup to warm you up during the cold winters. Several vegetables are normally included in the meat or bone stock, such as beetroots, onions, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, garlic and cabbage. These ingredients can all be found in the Kherson region which has 1,8 mln hectares of arable land. In fruits, especially the watermelon is grown in abundance besides grapes and berries. Together with the favorable geographical position for export, availability of processing industry (23% of the vegetables are processed), 57 fruit & vegetable storages and the largest area of irrigated land in Ukraine, the Kherson region provides many opportunities for cooperation.

Oppurtunities


The working visit was focused on the opportunities in the production and post-harvesting processing of  vegetables, potato, fruit and berries, storing of horticultural products and food processing. Joining the embassy were companies active in the following sectors: seeds and planting material (Rijk Zwaan, HZPC, Agrico, Rosetta Agro), Fertilizers & crop protection (ICL, Koppert Biological Systems), Storing and post-harvest equipment (AgroVent, Fresh Engineering Group, Tolsma-Grisnich, Rosetta Agro), food processing (Unifreezing, Partners International Business FoodTechLink, Grimco Trade Holland, Tolsma-Grisnich, Rid Logistical Solutions) and the Dutch agricultural company Kischenzi. Also the Ukrainian berries association and the Ukrainian Food and Export Board (UFEB) joined the working visit.

Round table


The morning of the 10th of October the Embassy representatives together with the Dutch delegation had a round table with local administration, Kherson Chamber of Commerce and the State Agrarian University. The following topics of join interest were discussed: focus areas for the agricultural development of Kherson region, state support programs, investment policy and donor projects in the region.  There were presented the Dutch governmental instruments and program available for Dutch-Ukrainian cooperation and well as the priority sectors in which the Netherlands business in ready to supply technological solutions and materials. There is an interest in starting up demonstration projects, also in view of the exhibition Agroport Kherson in summer 2018. From the Ukrainian side support is given through financial and training instruments, both with local banks and international donors. Another topic discussed evolved around marketing. Where the orange tulip is the trade mark for the Netherlands and worldwide used for branding, Kherson is developing its own brand to present itself on the world market. Branding, marketing, knowing your customers and showing yourself at international exhibitions is an important part of fulfilling the potential in agricultural export.

Berry Association


At the Dutch Ukrainian forum representatives of Dutch companies, the berry association and UFEB presented the general trends in the world market of berries and fruit, the potential of Ukraine and in particular of the Kherson region and the innovative solutions for optimizing through technologies in production and storage. The potential lies on both the domestic and the world market. With the Association Agreement, Ukraine can carry out duty free supplies of 36 food items to the European Union within the approved tariff quotas. Quota for processed foods remains largely unused. Adding value to the product and introducing the latest technologies for growing, storage and processing can prove to be the key for successful export.

Leading company


The second day was devoted to company visits. The delegation visited the leading company in vegetable production Green Team with total storage capacity of 50.000 tons, based on Dutch technologies. The company started in 2011, has Global Gap Certification and besides attracting local producers also has its own farm of approx 1.200 ha. Main products are carrots and onions for the domestic market, but also butternut pumpkin and sweet potatoes mainly as more niche products for the export market (UK). We would like to thank the CEO Denys Sazonov for the introduction and showing us around the storage and production facilities.

Vegetable storage

The second visit was at the farm Agroteko. Mr Vadym Shelestov together with Oleksandr Gurytskyi from Fresh Engineering Group showed the delegation the vegetable storage for onions and carrots. On site, also a grain storage is in the process of being built for storage of among other grains, maize from their own farm. We would like to thank Agroteko for their openness and hospitality.

The working visit ended at the “Prince P.N. Trubetskoy Winery” with a tour around the vineyard and the chateau, primarily build in 1900, followed by a degustation of different wines.

The embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine would like to express their thanks to the local authorities of Kherson region and Kherson Chamber of Commerce for their active contribution to the working visit. New contacts have been made, both by business and with local authorities.

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