More business to gain in Ukraine!
Opportunities for Dutch businesses in Agri&Food and Horticulture in the Central Ukraine were discussed at the webinar organized in December 2020 during Business Week Central and Eastern Europe, organized by RVO.
Ukraine is a large and diverse country with a wide range of opportunities. Every region has its unique profile and much to offer. For many years in a row, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine organized multisectoral trade missions to the various regions of Ukraine in order to introduce the country and open doors for Dutch business. A Regional Market study based on the Dutch top sectors was implemented to provide the backgrounds for Dutch businesses looking for opportunities in the Central Ukraine.
The study covers, amongst others, the following sectors within Agro-food and Horticulture:
- Production and processing of milk
- Production of greenhouse vegetables
- Production and processing of open field vegetables, fruit, berries, mushrooms (excluding technical crops like sugar beet).
- Production and processing of potato
- Current and planned projects in BBE (biomass, bioethanol, solid fuel boilers etc.)
- Production of machinery, equipment, materials for abovementioned sectors.
There are currently about 300 Dutch companies active in Ukraine working in different economic sectors. These companies were interviewed, and their opinion is included in the study, as well as that of other foreign and Ukrainian investors, business support and sector organizations, state bodies and governmental institutions. This unique first-hand experience can be of help those companies that consider Ukraine as their business destination.
On December 8, as part of Business Week Central Europe organized by the RVO, the Webinar “More business to gain in Ukraine! Opportunities in the agrifood & horticulture in Central Ukraine” was conducted.
Iryna Tytarchuk, executive director of International Trade Facilitation Center shared main conclusions of the study.
According to the findings of ITFC, main strengths of the business offers from the region are: favorable climate conditions and close to Europe, well-developed transport infrastructure: ports, rail and road transport, preferential access to European markets within the DCFTA, availability of government support and qualified specialists in horticulture and vegetable growing, own research base and in-depth collaboration with national research institutes.
Opportunities lay in the increasing export to the growing Asian markets, land market opening in 2021, increasing quality of food products.
Agricultural counsellor Reinoud Nuijten confirmed that Dutch businesses should look more closely at the Ukraine’s fast developing agricultural sector. In Ukraine, 42 mln. ha (70% territory) is under agriculture which accounts for 12% GDP and 40% value of export. Since the Association Agreement was signed in 2014, export of agricultural products from Ukraine to the EU has increased by 37% (was 6.6 bn by December 2019). Ukraine is in the top 3 suppliers of ag products to the EU and #2 organic product supplier to the EU. Nl is the biggest in the EU importer of Ukraine’s agricultural produce. This creates opportunities for Dutch businesses providing knowledge, technologies and who are interested in expanding their cooperation in the field of agriculture.
Coen Meijer, Area Director of Royal Zeelandia Group and Andriy Vasylenko, Director Zeelandia Ukraine shared their experience in starting their Ukrainian division, which has become amongst the highest earners in the region. Disposable income of local consumers is their key indicator of the country risks. Zero import duties for trade with the EU under AA is a big stimulus for trade, quality of input materials available in Ukraine is increasing. They see more opportunities for further developing food processing in Ukraine.
Dirck Smits van Oyen, director of Farmgate Ukraine told how after quite some years living and working in Ukraine he changed his occupation. He left aside trade with agricultural equipment and realized his lifetime dream to become a farmer. Now he operates a farm of 6000 ha, and has plans to expand vegetable storage and processing. He stressed on importance of selecting good partners and asking advice about all the procedures, as well as on good communication with the local government. He confirmed that investments in the sector are immense and sector is becoming more professional. New logistic infrastructure projects are being developed.
Kostyantyn Ivanov, Chairman of Chernihiv Chamber of Commerce, Andriy Pashchenko, Representative of Zhytomyr State Oblast Administrations, Marharyta Siranchuk, Representative of Regional Development Agency, and Natallia Byeliakova, Chairman of Khmelnytsky Chamber of Commerce shared information about priorities business development in their regions and tools that can be offered to foreign businesses interested to establish long-term relations with the Ukrainian companies or willing to approach the Ukrainian market.
If you missed the webinar, you can watch it online.