Over the last 2 years, USAID’s Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) has provided 58 grain trailers for 12 agricultural companies through USAID’s Agricultural Resilience Initiative (AGRI) Ukraine to facilitate grain exports.
With traditional export routes blocked during the war, many of ERA’s private sector partners pivoted their grain export logistics strategies, turning to more use of trailers, which can play a key logistics role, such as reaching blocked river ports by road.
ERA’s partner Nibulon received 13 grain trailers in May 2024, each with a carrying capacity of 25.5 tons. These USAID-provided trailers will transport grain from Nibulon’s headquarters at blocked river ports to Odesa ports and will help preserve nearly 600 jobs in Mykolaiv.
Fenix Agro, another ERA partner, received 4 grain trailers from USAID. Prior to the war, Fenix Agro rented trailers, which were expensive and added transportation costs.
“Thanks to the USAID-provided trailers, Fenix Agro will reduce the total cost of grain logistics,” explains Oleksandr Tetianko, Executive Director of Fenix Agro. “Having our own fleet of trailers will make it possible to expand the volume of road exports directly from the Ukrainian agricultural producer, primarily from small and medium-sized farmers who are strategic partners of Fenix Agro. We cooperate with more than 400 farmers from Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Chernivtsi and Odesa oblasts.”
Background: Assistance to agricultural producers and infrastructure companies is part of the Agriculture Resilience Initiative (AGRI) – Ukraine, implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It aims to help Ukraine increase its capacity to produce, store, transport, and export grain.