Petro Melnyk’s interview for “Interfax-Ukraine” agency

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Quotations from the interview:

“This is a challenge for me, since UCAB is a strong organization that has been on the market for 14 years. We have actively participated in and supported the opening of the land market, have supported the development of the market for chemicals, fertilizers, seeds. Much has been done during this time. The moratorium on the sale of land has been cancelled, but there are still many rough edges. Therefore, first of all, our task is not to lose these developments and continue the liberalization of the land market.”

“The continuation of the liberalization of the plant protection products (PPP) market, the fight against the monopoly in certain types of fertilizers, bringing the situation to such and such normal market conditions are also essential for us”.

“Another important task is to expand the geography and the number of UCAB participants. Agricom Group is not a large holding; in terms of land holdings, we fall into the bottom of the middle division with a land bank of 20-30 thousand of hectares. There are now 200-300 of such companies in Ukraine, and I believe that they should strengthen the association.”

“Concerning rise of fertilizer prices, I think this is still a seasonal surge. Analysts of UCAB and the last conference organized by us showed that upward trend will remain, but there are already certain drops in the market for ore and other commodities, which correlate with energy components in the cost of goods. We think that this uptrend will “play back” a little in the opposite direction.”

“The access to the EU market is already partially opened for Ukrainian seeds, and this is a good trend. Our manufacturers shall be present as players on the European market. I am sure that the quality of our seeds, even if they are of foreign selection and they are grown in Ukraine, is not worse than the foreign ones.

I do not see any problems in providing seeds for all crops, the range is even expanding. This year we at Agricom Group have additionally started trying Dutch cultivars, but at the same time we actively work with Ukrainian corn selection.”

“I have been conducting social activities for about four years, and every year we are asked a question: what is going on with raiding in agro? Every year we say that there are fewer cases, but sometimes there are situations that create the feeling that the whole country lives without laws. And, unfortunately, such cases still occur.”

“There are no outside men in Ukrainian agribusiness, it seems to me. There are people who are taken from ministries or associations, whom we all already know, and they understand well what the agricultural market is.”

“In general, I never renounce anything, but in the near-term prospect, business is a priority for me in social activities.”

“Now we are considering a project launching our own production of fuel pellets. Because now, on the lands that are listed as fields according to the papers, no one has done anything for 30 years, and they turned into forests.”

“In 2021, we adopted a new strategy, according to which we plan to invest about $ 20 million in the development of processing in Ukraine over the next five years. Over the past six months, we have invested about $ 2 million. Now the construction of a production warehouse is in full swing.”

“Next year we plan to launch three new product lines. These are not flakes, these are other products, we will actively cover their appearance on the store shelves.”

“Since the creation of the company, we have conducted an audit and continue to do it, since we are focused on working according to standards, paying taxes and taking an open position towards the state. Until about 2018, in the villages where we worked, Agricom Group was the only company which paid taxes on the correct amount: not from 3%, but as it actually was (from 10%, 12% or 15%).”

Source: Interfax Ukraine