SALIC looking to invest 25% of funds in Ukraine

Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Co. (SALIC) is considering a 25% investment in food production in Ukraine.

This was informed by Khaled Al-Aboodi, Chairman of SALIC, within the Saudi – Ukraine Agribusiness Investment Forum in Kyiv.

“The consumption of this category of products in Saudi Arabia equals 16-18 million tons of goods per year. Regardless of the population growth rate. We focus on these numbers when making investments. In particular, we focus on investments in grain and meat production, processing of animal products. 20-25% of our investments can be directed to Ukraine for these categories of goods,” he said.

Khaled Al-Aboodi notes that the merger process with Mriya Agroholding will end in 2019, and in the future, the company will work on synergy so that it is possible to centralize the procurement of material and technical resources and improve technological processes. SALIC will work on this in the coming years.

“When the business climate in Ukraine is not in its the best condition, the country experiences a difficult period. In the last two or three years, it has improved. And we invite other businessmen to come here with investments. Ukraine has much to offer for export. Saudi Arabia, on its part, is the largest market in the Middle East and now our businessmen are interested in entering other markets, buying land, and investing in the agricultural sector. In the case of SALIC, we are talking not only about crop production but also about processing,” the Chairman of SALIC added.

The Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture of the KSA Abdulrahman Al-Fadley said that the Kingdom adopted Saudi Vision 2030, among the key areas of which is ensuring the country's food security.

“The Government of Saudi Arabia is ready to provide support to bilateral investment projects for the purposes of sustainable development and food safety. This conference should be a platform for cooperation in agriculture. We expect the investment in Ukraine to be successful,” the Minister said.

In the framework of this forum, the CEO of the agroholding Simon Cherniavsky stated that in 2019 Mriya Agroholding might become one of the key producers of potato in Ukraine.