Ukrainian hothouse growers look for success in EU

Although still facing some challenges, Ukrainian hothouse growers have been seeing a lot of success in the last few years. As many of the unprofitable hothouses using old technology are closing, they are being replaced with new and modern facilities using Dutch technology, which are much more productive and rewarding.

“At the start of 2017, we have 250 ha of industrial hothouses for vegetables and 100 ha allocated for flower growing in Ukraine. Around 6 ha of hothouses using out of date technologies were closed last year and replaced with approximately 8 ha of modern hothouses, using Dutch technology. The cost prices for the products being grown in the old facilities were too high, leading to unprofitability and productivity has increased by 150%." said Yevhan Chernyshenko, president of the association, during his speech at a recent forum called 'Hothouses of Ukraine'.

Many Ukrainian growers believe that there is a lot of potential for exports to Europe, but that the high prices for natural gas and electricity, along with high interest loans and no support from the state, bring some tough challenges. According to Serhii Lenchuk, head of Galicia Greenery, 'The cost we are paying for natural gas is 60% more expensive compared to Dutch farmers and our electricity prices are also 30% higher.'

“Many producers don't take into account that it is actually cheaper to ship produce to EU countries, compared to Russia, however, the EU does have much stricter requirements. We need to improve the quality of the produce we are sending, but not just because of the EU market. I think that competition in the domestic market will also become more intense. Buyers at the wholesale markets are ready to pay more for high-quality produce and they are refusing to buy produce with low standards, regardless of low prices. This means that quality requirements will go up very soon.” stated Volodymyr Korniienko from Kalynivka.

Tetiana Hetman, head manager of Information analysis at Info-Shuvar agrees that development is impossible without exports. "Ukrainian farmers exported almost 20% of the total tomato crop and around 5% of the total cucumber production to Russia before the embargo. Since then, the total amount of exported goods decreased in 2015, but we exported a record-breaking amount of the hothouse grown vegetables to the EU countries in 2016. This increase is expected to continue, year on year.”

For more information:
Oksana Kozak
Shuvar
Tel: +38 (093) 719-92-74
Email: o.z.kozak@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/info.shuvar