Ban on certain pesticides could raise IMC costs by USD 3 million annually and reduce corn yields — CEO Verzhykhovskyi
Ukrainian agricultural holding IMC estimates that replacing pesticides that may be banned in Ukraine as part of harmonization with EU regulations would cost the company around USD 3 million annually. This would increase its crop protection expenses by approximately 25%, IMC CEO Oleksandr Verzhykhovskyi said at the Forbes Agro 2026 conference held on February 26 in Kyiv.
He emphasized that the company specializes in corn, sunflower and winter wheat production. Of roughly 100 active ingredients that could potentially be banned — or are already banned — in the EU, IMC uses about ten in its technological crop management maps.
“Replacing them with alternative products will cost us about USD 3 million in additional annual expenses. Considering that we currently spend around USD 12.5 million on crop protection products, this means a 25% increase in our protection system,” Verzhykhovskyi said.
He also warned that switching to alternative products could negatively affect yields. According to him, growers may lose the ability to achieve record performance levels, particularly in corn production.
In addition, crop protection manufacturers may be unable to supply sufficient volumes of alternative products to the Ukrainian market.
“All key producers and partners say they are not ready to supply these products in the volumes required to fully cover Ukraine’s demand,” the IMC CEO added.
