AGROTRADE seeks to create new production cluster in Western Ukraine

AGROTRADE Group aims to strengthen its business model through the creation of a new production cluster in Western Ukraine, CEO Serhii Nechyporuk said at the Agro Finance 2025 Conference, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

“We want to grow. We want to enhance our business model by relocating our land bank and forming land clusters in safer regions. We tell banks: give us funds, we’ll relocate our land bank, establish a successful cluster in, say, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, or Khmelnytskyi, and become more resilient. And the bankers tell us: well, first finance it with your own money, and then we’ll think about possibly refinancing you,” Nechyporuk said.

According to him, bankers ignore the sound business logic of the holding while refusing to raise financing limits due to the need for higher credit provisioning for a company operating in frontline regions.

Currently, some of the company’s land plots are located just 10 km from the line of combat.

“It’s difficult to be efficient when electronic warfare systems are constantly operating in your fields. We have adopted a precision farming strategy (with the use of drones), but unfortunately, we cannot implement it in two out of five clusters,” Nechyporuk noted.

He added that the company also provides “combat agronomy” bonuses — wage supplements for agronomists who work in high-risk fields.