US firm seeks pork joint venture in Ukraine
Seaboard is hoping to form a joint venture with Kernel, one of the biggest agribusiness companies in Ukraine. A source at Kernel said the deal under discussion included investments of US$600m in the construction of the pig farm and US$100m in the construction of the slaughterhouse.
“It is assumed that the pig farm will be largest created in the Ukraine so far. It will be designed for 400,000 head of pigs to be kept simultaneously, or an annual slaughter of 800,000 head,” said the source.
“For comparison, the paramenters for Ukraine’s biggest pig farm at the moment, owned by APK-Invest, are 300,000 and 600,000 head respectively. Thus, the joint venture will create one of the largest pork producers in Ukraine.”
They added that the final agreement on project implementation was likely to be signed by the end of the year.
The governor of Kharkiv Oblast, Mikhail Dobkin, confirmed that the regional administration was in talks with Seaboard Foods.
“If Seaboard Foods make a final decision to build the complex in Kharkiv Oblast, it will receive expedited permissions and maximum support from the administration,” he added.
“At the request of the investor in the region, agricultural lands with a total area of 2,000 hectares have been selected and prepared. We expect the construction to start in 2014 and to take up to five years. The total investment cost of the project, according to company estimates, could reach US$700m.”
Local experts have reflected that the joint venture would be unable to sell so much pork on the Ukraine market, so Seaboard Foods is expected to focus on the Russian and Chinese markets, which it already supplies with pork.
