During the full-scale invasion, russia blocked sea and river ports, which put in jeopardy the supply of food from Ukraine to world markets.

NIBULON built 14 river ports from where the company shipped grain to ensure food security of the world. 9 of them are still blocked, and the rest – destroyed or are still temporarily occupied.

In this situation farmers, who work near these river ports and transported their grains to them earlier, found themselves in a difficult situation – they and their families could be left without income, but NIBULON, as one of the largest Ukrainian agricultural producers and exporters, – without possibility to export grain for foreign buyers to world markets.

The Kremenchutska branch is located at one of the blocked river ports of the company. Previously, the grain was taken from it by barges along the Dnieper, now – by wagons and trucks. Hundreds of farmers bring grain here.

One of those, from whom NIBULON buys wheat and corn, is Oleksandr Kovalchuk – the owner and head of the “Syroty” farm. For more than 20 years, he has been occupied in the cultivation of cereals in the Oleksandrivskyi district of the Kirovohrad region. This year he has already gathered wheat on the 665 ha of land, and now he gathers corn. The farmer sells 80% of the yield to NIBULON.

«When the war started, the NIBULON branch, which buys grains from me and other farmers grains, did not work for some time. There was no understanding, where grain would be exported from Ukraine, whether agricultural exporters would buy grain from us,» says Mr. Oleksandr.

In this situation, the USAID Project «The Agriculture Resilience Initiative – Ukraine» (the USAID Project) helped implement an alternative decision. At the NIBULON’s request the USAID Project bought 50 state-of-the-art hopper wagons, each of which can transport up to 70 tons of grain.

A route train with 50 hopper wagons allows to transfer 10 thousand tons of grain per month, which ensures the annual transshipment volume of 120 thousand tons, necessary to maintain the profitability of the grain storage.

Currently, NIBULON uses these wagons to transport grain from the blocked river ports by railway to the Danube ports, then reload it on barges and ship to 25 countries around the world.

The resumption of the Kremenchutska branch was a glad news for farmer Kovalchuck:

«For me it is very important, because this is the main income for my family, my employees and other shareholders. I pay taxes from it, and help solve the municipal problems in my village if necessary. This year, we have already sold more than 760 tons of grain – wheat and corn. This is a good grain, it is of the 3rd class. It means that the grain can be used to bake bread».

The farmer has his own warehouses to store the grain, he stocks the crop in them and waits for the price of grain will rise a little, because usually during the mass harvest, the price is the lowest. The prosperity of another 150 families, from whom Oleksandr rents shares, depends on the success of his business.

«For those people, from whom I rent shares, this is the main income. So they are always waiting to receive money or grain for their share. I am very comfortable working with NIBULON: the company has a modern laboratory, in which grain is analyzed for quality, usually there are no lines for receiving the grain at the branch, I receive payments for grain in time. It is about stability in work and reliability of partners», says farmers.

He also maintains the mill – he grinds grain into the flour for peasants and churns sunflower oil. Prices for these services are much lower than the market prices – this is his social component, to help people survive in the difficult times.

Starting from August, when NIBULON received the first hopper wagons, and until the end of September 2023, they have already transported more than 13 thousand tons of grain with them. Also, the staff of the river ports have work – thanks to the creation of the alternative route using wagons, the company saved 592 jobs. NIBULON continues to fulfill foreign contracts for the supply grain to world markets. All this affects global food security.

Ukraine is once again proving its global; importance in food supply chains, despite the war and all the challenges associated with it. And farmer Kovalchuk plays an important role in this.