Agribusiness is a governing industry in Ukraine, one that will help our country occupy a significant place on the world markets in the future. However, this can come true only providing that it is appropriately developed, experts say.

 In their account, the agricultural infrastructure that exists in present-day Ukraine needs fundamental changes and development. This does not concern up-to-date equipment but realizing the fact that agribusiness and rural life as a social factor are two different things, although that they are tightly interrelated.  This year’s developments surrounding the grain crop have showed that simply raising a crop, even a record one, is not enough, it is necessary to be able to sell it. This makes farming different from agribusiness, the final result of which is exactly the profit gained.

“If one speaks of ambitious plans to build up production and take up a certain place in the world economy, then it is necessary to step up grain infrastructure development above all. Such infrastructure is not just farmers’ drying machines, grain storage facilities and elevators, but also port solutions. Today, ports are like the bottleneck for us: though they show highly intensive performance, their capacity is limited to just 12 million tons of grain per year.  This year, for example, Ukraine has harvested more than 48 million tons of grain, a half of which there is nowhere to store,” says Vitaliy Skotsyk, director general of AMACO.

In order to launch an effective agricultural project in Ukraine, a farmer has to spend roughly USD 1,300 per hectare in total, Vitaliy Skotsyk says on the basis of long experience of working with agricultural enterprises.  Naturally, the lion’s share of investments is investments in fixed assets during the first year of operation.  However, this money will be paying for itself step by step – not only at the expense of amortization but mostly thanks to high productive efficiency. The absence of a guaranteed sales market inside the country, which could be livestock farming and processing industry, is another key problem that keeps on disturbing investors.

“Internal demand, through livestock farming and deep processing, will definitely be a driving force to draw more investors to such projects. That is why today’s main headache is to sell, not raise. If there exists a guaranteed sales market, then people who invest will accordingly invest even more, especially as in present-day Ukraine agribusiness can yield bigger profits than real estate.