Bioenergy and agro-processing — UABIO at the conference by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine!
Today, on May 19, the Radisson Blu Hotel hosted an offline event focused on scaling up agro-processing in Ukraine to increase added value.
The conference, organized by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, brought together representatives of various Ukrainian associations and unions. UABIO was represented at the event by UABIO Chairman of the Board Georgii Geletukha.
The event was opened by:
Vitalii Koval, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine: “I thank those who are already working in agro-processing and wish inspiration to those who want to do it. The task of the Ministry, together with its associates, is to scale up the demand for our products in the world. There is hope that agro-processing will give a boost!”
Serhii Naumov, CEO of Oschadbank: “If we are talking about growth, it is about financing. Oschadbank finances both small farms and large corporations”.
The Chairman of the Board of UABIO took part in the first panel discussion “Trends in Agro Processing in Ukraine: Challenges and Opportunities”.
Main things about bioenergy
Georgii Geletukha, Chairman of the Board, Bioenergy Association of Ukraine (UABIO): “Biomethane meets two criteria at once: export of expensive products and no logistics problems. Moreover, if Ukraine had, for example, 15 billion cubic meters of biomethane, it would be bought in the EU with pleasure. The biomethane market is different – it is currently in short supply. The bioenergy sector itself is quite resilient and continues to grow even during the war.”
Download presentation by Georgii Geletukha (in Ukrainian)
Oksana Osmachko, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine: “We understand the importance of bioenergy for the development of agro-processing. A separate sector has been created to work in the field of bioenergy. This is very promising, so we need to develop a strategy and work on it together with you (UABIO)”.
Taras Mykolaenko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Association of Bioethanol Producers: “We are a new industry, but we already have a partial impact on agro-processing in Ukraine. Currently, there are 17 plants in Ukraine that produce 180 thousand tons of bioethanol. In total, this is the processing of 600 thousand tons of grain and molasses. Currently, the bioethanol industry is based on sugar producers. Since 2016, bioethanol exports have increased 63 times, amounting to about 90 million euros”.
Yana Kavushevska, Chairman of the National Association of Sugar Producers of Ukraine ‘Ukrtsukor’: “We, sugar producers, help to produce bioethanol. In general, there are many ways to use sugar now. For example, sugar beet pulp can be used to produce biogas, and molasses can be used to produce bioethanol. In addition, we get digestate. We also get CO2, which can be used in greenhouses.”
We are grateful to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine for organizing such a useful and interesting discussion. We are pleased to see the growing interest in the bioenergy sector on the part of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food. We are convinced that both bioethanol and biogas production are an important component for scaling up agro-processing in Ukraine.
See you at the next events!
