USAID supports Ukraine agricultural exporters to prepare for winter
USAID Economic Resilience Activity (USAID ERA) has delivered 13 out of 19 planned diesel generators with capacities ranging from 50 to 800 kW to agricultural exporters in Ukraine. The generators will ensure stable functioning of their facilities during blackouts, which are expected during the winter months.
Kernel, Ukraine’s largest producer and exporter of sunflower oil, which exports its products to more than 80 countries around the world, received two generators, of 500 kW and 200 kW, as well as аn automatic reserve input cabinet. The new equipment will be installed at the company’s transshipment terminals in the Danube region. The generators and the reserve input cabinet will ensure an uninterrupted power supply at Kernel’s premises in Odesa Oblast. This support is crucial in enabling the continuing productivity of the company even during blackouts. ERA will also deliver one more 800 kW generator, of 800 kW, to Kernel in the upcoming weeks.
TAK-AGRO, a holding company involved in grain trade, elevator services, and the supply of agricultural products, and with operations in Kyiv, Vinnytsia and Odesa oblasts, also received a 500 kW generator. The generator will ensure the operation of the elevator in Kyiv Oblast, which is equipped with rail sidings and designed for 16,500 tons of grain elevator storage and 30,000 tons of grain storage in bulk.
Some member companies of the Ukrainian Agricultural Council (UAC), an association of small and medium-sized agricultural companies, also received generators. These are Ztala Trade, Perlyna Podillia, Phoenix Agro, Urochysche Zhuravske LTD, and “IDFS” LTD.
Serhii Ivaschuk, General Director of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast based “Perlyna Podillia”, noted the benefit of this support.
“Last winter we couldn’t dry grain and prepare a shipment for export due to incessant shelling by Russia’s troops and the resulting blackouts. Recently, we received two powerful generators with capacity of 200 kW each from USAID ERA. This power supply will allow us to fulfill contractual commitments and use the elevator in an uninterrupted mode even during blackouts.”
In 2022, “Perlyna Podillia exported over 11 tons of grain, a reduction from the 15 tons that were exported in 2021This reduction of export was caused by the power supply challenges and the decrease in the demand for Ukrainian grain in EU countries.
The procurement of the equipment was undertaken within the Agriculture Resilience Initiative (AGRI) – Ukraine, implemented by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in order to mitigate trade crisis exacerbated by Russia’s cruel war against Ukraine. It aims to help Ukraine increase its capacity to produce, store, transport, and export grain.