EBRD: Ukraine’s upstream agri marked for $1bn investment

The EBRD revealed the plans after a consultation with agribusiness clients.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD),  the Central and Eastern Europe-focused development financier, will bolster Ukraine’s agro-processing sectors, which it believes present a favourable investment opportunity. In a recent consultation with its agribusiness clients, 10 pledged a total of $1 billion in agribusiness investment plans in the country next year. The consultation was part of the EBRD’s Private Sector Action Plan to further develop Ukraine’s agriculture industries.

Areas targeted for investment include agro-industrial operations in the pork, poultry, dairy and refined sugar sectors. Grain is another major agribusiness sector in Ukraine considered for investment from the EBRD and its agribusiness clients.

The consultation and subsequent investment are in conjunction with continued efforts to recover Ukraine’s primary industries, adversely affected by the recent conflict. “Since the food price crisis of 2007-8 we have invested approximately €640 million in the Ukrainian grain sector alone. This year, so far, we have invested more than €200 million in agribusiness across different subsectors,” Gilles Mettetal, head of agribusiness at the EBRD, told Agri Investor.