USAID Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) has purchased two mechanical grain samplers for NIBULON’s needs. In early August, these modern devices were delivered and installed at one of the company’s branches.

Thanks to the new Rakoraf mechanical samplers, NIBULON will be able to significantly increase the speed of effective grain quality control and the throughput capacity of the branch. It is expected that installation will allow the branch to receive more than 300 vehicles, which is 7,500 tons of agricultural products per day.

“The current state of electrification of the region’s railway infrastructure does not allow us to fully rely on railway capacity, and requires us to find ways to increase the efficiency of road transport. The Rakoraf samplers received from USAID ERA will allow us to speed up acceptance of cargo from trucks, sampling in the laboratory and further shipment of agricultural products for export. The installation of these new samplers will contribute to the sustainable and successful functioning of the branch, and thus help Ukraine and its partners to resist the aggressor on the way to overcoming the problem of world hunger,” said Mykhailo Rizak, NIBULON’s Director of Government Relations and Sustainable Development.

This assistance to NIBULON is part of Agriculture Resilience Initiative – Ukraine , implemented by the United States Agency for International Development. It aims to help Ukraine increase its capacity to produce, store, transport, and export grain.

USAID Economic Resilience Activity (USAID ERA) has purchased 50 new hopper wagons for NIBULON, each of which can carry up to 70 tons of grain. On 11 August, the last batch of wagons arrived for loading at one of the company’s branches, with a destination of one of the ports on the Danube River.

All cars are manufactured at the Karpaty Research and Mechanical Plant.

Russia continues to block the operation of NIBULON’s river ports on the Pivdennyi Buh and Dnieper rivers. As a result, grain from these elevators is loaded onto wagons for further export through the ports of Odesa region.

“We are extremely grateful to USAID Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) for their assistance,” said Mykhailo Rizak, Director of Government Relations and Sustainable Development. “Ukraine has won three times in this partnership: Karpaty received an order, NIBULON received transport equipment to keep river ports operating in the face of blocked river navigation, and Ukrainian producers received better purchase prices for their products.”

Prior to the blockade, more than 15 million tons of cargo was transported through the Dnieper and Pivdennyi Buh annually, of which more than 4 million tons was grain.

Assistance to agricultural producers and infrastructure companies is part of USAID’s Agriculture Resilience Initiative – Ukraine. It aims to help Ukraine increase its capacity to produce, store, transport, and export grain.

USAID Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) purchased consumables for nine oblast phytosanitary laboratories. The supplies include scalpels, surgical scissors, tweezers, pipettes, pipettes with dispensers, paper and sterilisation bags, test tubes, measuring cups and other laboratory glassware, caps and disposable medical shoe covers. These will be used daily by staff to conduct phytosanitary inspections, including of grain crops exported from Ukraine. The materials were received by laboratories in Vinnytsia, Zmiinets village in Lutsk Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kropyvnytskyi, Lviv, Odesa, Uzhhorod, Cherkasy, and Chernivtsi.

Lviv Oblast Phytosanitary Laboratory is approached by local farmers to inspect grain that is then exported. Up to a hundred different inspections of grain or plants are carried out here every day.

“Our laboratory has received consumables from USAID ERA that will last for about three months. We used to buy these materials with the money we earned by providing paid services. This assistance allows us to save our budget, or spend it on other needs. We use paper, scissors, various test tubes and other materials on a daily basis to carry out grain examinations. Before the war, our work was focused on inspecting goods entering Ukraine, but now we are fully engaged in issuing permits for further grain exports,” says Nadiia Kish, director of Lviv Oblast Phytosanitary Laboratory.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the workload of grain inspections at Volyn Oblast Phytosanitary Laboratory has increased by 50%.

“Agricultural exporters from Volyn and the central regions of Ukraine come to the laboratory. These consumables will help the laboratory staff to do their daily work, testing grain samples. The tips, tubes, dispensers, filters, scissors, heat-resistant bags, laboratory glassware and scalpels are needed every day by our employees to conduct examinations. These consumables will be enough for about a year of work at the current workload. This is a significant help to us, and we are sincerely grateful for it,” says Yevheniia Lykhach, director of Volyn Oblast Phytosanitary Laboratory.

USAID ERA has also recently purchased equipment for Vinnytsia Oblast Phytosanitary laboratory to conduct daily grain testing: a PCR testing system, analytical scales, mini centrifuges, a trinocular microscope, a bactericidal recycler, a thermos shaker and microtube unit, and an ultraviolet box for PCR testing.

The assistance to agricultural producers and infrastructure companies is part of Agriculture Resilience Initiative – Ukraine, implemented by the United States Agency for International Development. It aims to help Ukraine increase its capacity to produce, store, transport, and export grain.

USAID Economic Resilience Activity (ERA) purchased water filtration equipment for a healthcare facility in Donetsk Oblast, which was installed at a well.

The water treatment plant consists of a filtration station, pumps, a 1,000-liter water tank, additional filters, and a reverse osmosis system. This equipment will be able to produce 24,000 liters of drinking water per day, supplying up to 5,000 people daily with free water, including patients and staff.

In the context of constant shelling by Russia’s troops, and pipe bursts in the Second Donetsk Water Supply System due to old, worn-out infrastructure for centralized water supply, this equipment will provide residents and IDPs with access to clean drinking water.

“The quality of water used in everyday life and for drinking is one of the determining factors of a high quality of life. Almost all water requires some kind of treatment to bring it to a satisfactory state. The insidious war waged by the Russian Federation in Ukraine has become one of the most serious challenges to the country’s centralized drinking water supply and wastewater services. Thanks to USAID ERA, the installation of these water purification filters will allow us to receive high-quality, safe water that does not require treatment before consumption and use for technical purposes. Given the difficult socio-economic situation in the country and in Donetsk Oblast due to martial law, this assistance is a significant contribution to the health and security of the nation and another step towards Ukraine’s future victory,” commented the general director of the facility where the equipment will be installed.

After installation, water from the well was sent for analysis to the local water utility’s laboratory. Once positive results come back, people will be able to take water from this facility.

Maxi bags are large reusable bags with a capacity of 18 cubic meters for transporting or storing grain and other bulk materials. One bag can hold 14 tons of grain. These bags were manufactured by Ukrainian company Arivapak. They will help Agro KMR transport grain from elevator to European countries.

“The company used to load grain into 800 kg bags. We learned about the technology of using maxi bags in March 2023; the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine had information about it and an invitation to a roundtable for agricultural producers held by USAID ERA, where they talked about this technology. Now we have received the maxi bags and plan to use them at the elevator in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. These maxi bags will allow us to export an additional 15,000 tons of grain per year,” says AGRO KMR director Clément Coussens.

In 2022, the company exported about 12,000 tons of grain by vehicles and surface transportation. This year, the company has already exported 16,000 tons of grain and plans to export about 40,000 tons by the end of the year.

AGRO KMR is a grain company with a production capacity of about 40,000 tons of agricultural products (rapeseed, wheat, sunflower) and storage capacity, including simultaneous storage at its own elevator with a capacity of 15,000 tons.

USAID ERA partnering companies N`Unit (New Ukrainian Network of Intermodal Terminals) and Agromino are using already maxi bags.

USAID ERA is promoting this technology for transporting grain which is new in Ukraine, although it has been used for more than 10 years in the European Union and United States for the transport of bulk cargo. The bags are made of polymeric fabric and guarantee the tightness of the cargo (grain) and its protection during transport. With Russia blocking Black Sea ports, they will help reorient Ukraine’s grain exports by road and rail, accelerate grain exports and allow Ukraine to supply and guarantee global food security during the war.

Assistance to agricultural producers and infrastructure companies is part of USAID’s Agriculture Resilience Initiative – Ukraine, implemented by USAID. It aims to help Ukraine increase its capacity to produce, store, transport, and export grain.

For more information about the Ukrainian manufacturer of maxi bags, please follow the link: https://arivapak.com/.