Oleksiy Opanasovych, NIBULON has recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. What is NIBULON today in Ukrainian agrarian market?
Our company is one of the largest producers and exporters of agricultural products. We set a record for the grain harvest last year – more than 340 thousand tons; this is the best result in history of the company. We cultivate land in 9 regions, and we have built 22 machine and tractor stations for field cultivation.
NIBULON is the largest exporter of grain; last marketing year we exported 4.66 million tons. Every ninth ton of grain sold for export is ours. The geography of export covers 64 countries around the world, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Indonesia.
To ensure a strong export flow, we have established a large network for grain storage – 24 modern elevator complexes and transshipment terminals along the Dnipro River and the Southern Buh River, which enable us to store about 2 million tons of grain. In addition, we have our own transshipment terminal in Mykolaiv with capacity of 5 million tons.

How many employees are there in your company?
At present there are about 6 thousand employees in the company. 
How much tax is paid by the company to the treasury?
Over the past three years we have paid almost a billion UAH. NIBULON has invested in the country’s economy more than USD 1.6 billion for all the period of its activity.
Does the state help NIBULON?
I would be very happy, if it at least didn’t interfere. We have the law and the whole bureaucracy that are directed to put a spoke in wheel of business and “milk” it. We built up NIBULON not with the help of officials who act on behalf of the state, but in spite of their intrigues.
For example, to perform dredging on the Southern Buh River, at our own expense and using our own technical resources, we spent 5 years in order to receive 47 permits.
Another example: we spent 2 years only to get a permit for the installation of mooring buoys on the Dnipro River and the Southern Buh River. That is, it took us two years to walk from office to office and write papers, so that eventually a ship could moor where it is convenient for it.
Let us look at passage through locks by non-self-propelled vessels: two non-self-propelled vessels can pass through one lock on all the major rivers of the world. It can’t be done in Ukraine – only one at a time. This means that a carrier pays for these services twice, loses time; the load on components and assemblies of locks, which aren’t new, grows twice. If one removed this restriction, cargo transportation by water would increase by 150 thousand tons per year, resulting in benefits for all, including the government, which could receive more taxes.
We were forced to address ourselves to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine on this issue. In our country, to protect yourself against a public authority, you should address yourself to another one.
Here is another example: NIBULON cannot get a permit for connecting a branch line to the shipbuilding and repair yard, to make it easier to provide cargoes, for 3 years. It would seem simple – to build a short piece of railroad, but we aren’t allowed. We cannot also for 3 years achieve cancellation of tonnage and other port dues for transit passage (without calling at a port and handling) through the public canals at the sea ports in Mykolaiv and Kherson, which are included in the water area of ports.
But open almost any issue and you will definitely read about how the minister of infrastructure is busy reforming the industry on the pages of magazines.
Let the state resolve at least these problems, so it might be easier to work. We will cope somehow. We waited the government to start dredging on the Southern Buh River, and as a result we did everything at our own expense. I think it will be the same way with the Dnipro River.
NIBULON decided to stake on river transport. You said that you wanted to make the Dnipro River the second Mississippi and invest USD 300 million in this project. What do you plan to do in this direction?
We started implementing the project with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and now we continue implementing it with the European Investment Bank; we signed a loan agreement for EUR 71 million with the EIB last December. This is an important and significant event not only for our company, but also for the entire Ukraine. For the first time in 25 years the agreement is signed with a private Ukrainian company.
The project is designed for 2-3 years and within this period we plan to create modern and bigger grain storage and transportation system. In general, such cooperation will allow us to invest USD 200 million in the economy of Ukraine. This is construction of 10 elevators, including the ones along the Dnipro River and Southern Buh River, saturation of Ukrainian rivers with modern watercrafts, which are built at our renovated shipbuilding and repair yard in Mykolaiv.

What effect do you expect to have from implementation of this investment project?
Our fleet transported 2 million tons of grain over the last year. As a result of the project implementation the volumes of transportation will grow up to 4 million tons, despite the fact that the officials by any means are trying to push through the draft law “On inland water transport”. They argue that transportation of one ton of cargoes by road transport is worth about USD 11.5, by the railway – USD 7.8, by water transport – about USD 4.5. Don’t believe the lies. River transport is significantly inferior to rail transport. For example, the cost of transportation of 1 ton of grain by the route Mykolaiv – Kremenchuk by rail transport is USD 8.09, at the same time, USD 8.82 by water transport. Transportation of 1 ton of grain by the route Kyiv – Odessa by railway is USD 11.96, and USD13.67 by water transport. Thus, they lie in order to promote the draft law that is beneficial to a well-known industrial and financial group.
This project means not only cheapening of transportation for NIBULON. Due to the reduction of transportation by road transport, 166 thousand trucks will be removed from the roads; the state will economize UAH 3.16 billion on road repair.
The project within cooperation with the European Investment Bank will enable us to create more than 1,200 new jobs at NIBULON, 500 jobs – at the shipbuilding and repair yard, and another 500 new jobs – at fleet.
In addition, the project will bring UAH 800 million of taxes to the state treasury, we’ll pay more than UAH 150 million of unified social tax, we´ll create 15 thousand workplaces at the construction sites and builders will earn UAH 700 million for their work, construction companies will get UAH 200 million of revenue. On the whole, the agricultural sector will receive UAH 5 billion of additional revenue from the project implementation. That is, we organize the project and both contractors and the state, that is, the Ukrainians, earn.
You build new elevators. Isn´t it easier to buy the ones that already exist?
If we go to the civilized world with its competitiveness, there is a need in modern facilities, which ultimately will give much more effect. This is the first reason.
Secondly, we have so many old privatized elevators, there were so many “dark” schemes that there was no point in dealing with the corporatization or purchase of the old “dead” elevators, in which one hasn’t invested anything for 25 years of Ukrainian independence. So, for me as for a manager who had worked in the elevator industry of Ukraine (the former Soviet Union), there wasn’t even a question: to buy an old elevator or build a new one. Only new elevators, at new sites, at unsuitable land, so not to sort out relationship with the state or with other owners.
What NIBULON would you like to see in 5-10 years?
Our company has a clear strategy of development and its main components: to increase efficiency and ensure our competitiveness in the next 5-10 years. We build up an independent company in Ukraine, financially independent and independent in terms of transport, independent in trade – that is, oriented directly on the grain importing countries, etc. We also consider the possibility of construction facilities in countries that purchase Ukrainian agricultural products in the future. This is our goal.
How, in your opinion, the agrarian sector of Ukraine will change in the next 5-10 years?
Today, nothing is being done to develop the agricultural sector of Ukraine in a civilized manner; the legislation that regulates the work of agricultural companies with land is not being improved. Therefore, if we continue this way, there will be no improvement of the investment climate and sharp increase in agricultural production within the next 5-10 years. There will be some increase, but not a sharp one. In order to change this situation fundamentally, and to direct investment flows to a village, to make Ukraine a real leader in the agricultural sector not only in Europe but throughout the world so it has advantage in the markets, it is necessary to improve legislation, firstly – in the sphere of land relations. Today we still have a shadow land market, a shadow grain market. Today, there is no incentive for those who cultivate land to work legally; taxes aren’t paid to local budgets from land cultivation. Today, a village is offshore zone in Ukraine.
Is lifting of the moratorium on sale of agricultural land necessary? Why?
Yes, it’s necessary to lift the moratorium, and we are for its lifting. But given the current state of the law, it cannot be done. Today we have a remarkable feature in Ukraine: everyone is talking about the lifting or extension of the moratorium, but no one is talking constructively, what to do to lift the moratorium and run a real civilized land market. It is necessary to create a land market, but if you set it up right now, it will be a disaster in a village – neither farmers nor companies will be able to protect their rights. 
If the moratorium is lifted, will NIBULON buy land? Yes, it will. We work transparently, we know the owners of the land, and they know us, the tenants. We share a civilized relationship, so I think they will believe us and not to transient businessmen or fraudsters.
You started to build up NIBULON at the age of 44. Many people think about retirement at this age…Why? What motivated you?
44 is mature age when one has knowledge, experience, respect, management experience. It was the time when the Iron Curtain fell, and by the time I had visited many civilized countries, and I had what to compare the USSR with. I even had worked abroad. So when (before the collapse of the Soviet Union) a question of creation of the Ukrainian-Hungarian agricultural enterprises was raised, I unhesitatingly accepted the offer to head it, even on a voluntary basis. I and my associates worked actually on a volunteer basis for 2-3 years, without salary. Because we believed in the future, we had desire to cooperate with other countries, to travel, to study best practices. Therefore, there was no even a question: to be or not to be. Yes, to be. I had knowledge, responsibility, and it was very interesting.
You got a huge experience in the conditions of the Soviet planned economy. Was this experience helpful in running business?
It was not all bad in that period. The positive experience gained in the Soviet period was very useful for me. Firstly, I have continued the same activity – construction of elevators and grain processing facilities but in the new conditions. The knowledge, normative documents and office administration helped to start running business; all that had been achieved during the Soviet Union. I had a dream: to set up a business that will be more powerful and stronger, progressive and environmentally friendly, socially-oriented compared with the state system.
Was it difficult to adapt to new conditions? It was the period of turbulent 90-s: shooting, racketeering, “protection”.
Yes, it was so. There were things that it is frightening to remember. I took a decision: to work only within the legislation, transparently, to have no debt on business, not to work with unknown and doubtful companies, not to deal with unreliable people, not to work for cash, not to engage in speculative and risky business. I knew that if I and my team stand by these principles, all the troubles of the 90-s will not affect us. Racketeering and “protection” were necessary for those who had acquired property illegally and were engaged in illegal takeover or illegal business.
Where you started? In 1991, you had the experience of work in government agencies. Why did Hungarian and British companies decide to run business with you?
The activity of the joint venture with Hungary and England began in the period of the Soviet Union. The socialist countries cooperated in the framework of the CMEA – Council for Mutual Economic Assistance. There appeared an idea to introduce seed technology that had been used in Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, to Ukraine and there were plans to get the technology and seed from Hungary. The barter was not possible and the British company appeared among the partners. So the joint venture was created. But as soon as the Soviet Union collapsed, our company was left alone with the reality, it was necessary to survive in the new environment. There were almost no investments from the Hungarians and the British. There was a choice: we will become winners or lose. Thus, we survived without any support of the co-founders – the Hungarian and British, but with the support of foreign banks in the conditions of wild Ukrainian economy of that period.
When did you realize that you want to set up a big company?
Frankly speaking, I did not think that in 25 years our company will be as it is now. I tried to ensure the protection of business and its development, its financial stability, to protect our team. I knew the conditions for conducting agricultural production; we had a clear plan how to survive and to become a successful company. All these years we have worked day after day and as a result NIBULON became what it is now.

Unfortunately, a lot of positive things that were in the Soviet era have not survived in the independent Ukraine. For example, there were no strong leaders who have managed to create a civilized and strong Ukraine. All the attractive state property was distributed for pennies to oligarchs – ports, mines, enterprises. Industrial and financial structures enriched themselves and ordinary citizens received practically nothing. Our citizens deserve better life, and we have reached the level of agricultural economic development which was during the Soviet Union only over 25 years. We have gone through a lot of turmoil, and they still continue. Could it be another way in Ukraine? It could be, and we deserve better. Poland managed to succeed, Hungary, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, the former German Democratic Republic and Yugoslavia managed to succeed. And what we have: give, to destroy and then to reform. And to struggle, but against whom? Ukraine could be a member of the EU earlier then the countries listed above due to its potential. Ukraine could become much stronger and more successful in the world in terms of talented population, its economic potential, fertile soil.
Now businessmen study: get the MBA degree, attend seminars, courses. You did not have all that sort of thing. How did you manage to set up the company without this knowledge? Do you have an instinct to take the right decisions or you have good advisors and consultants?
When we started to set up the company, I had no idea that there should be advisers or consultants. Life is the best school. You cannot get the knowledge the school of life gives at any university or institute, in business books either. The main rule is to be honest with people, with your business partners and the banking system, with the public. And then any challenge that is posed for the company will be feasible. I can clearly say that in 25 years we have not had a single case that we didn´t manage to do something, did not reach some goal or level, or didn´t build one of the planned facilities. If we start doing something, we bring it to logical conclusion. For example, who could believe that we will dredge the Southern Buh River, if anyone else, except us, took care of it: neither the state, nor the Sea Ports Authority, nor ports. Even poachers were against it, because they can no longer put their nets and fish. So when we announced it, no one believed it; but we did it.

And when we announced that we will launch hydrofoils in spring, they considered us strange. But we did it. We organized passenger transportation by river in the south of Ukraine. As of spring we will organize scheduled transportation that will link Voznesensk, Nova Odesa, Mykolaiv, Ochakiv; there will be passenger routes “Mykolaiv – Ochakiv – the Kinburn Spit – coastal area of the Black Sea” and “Kherson – Hola Prystan – the Kinburn Spit – Ochakiv”. Then we will develop passenger shipping on the Dnipro River.

Our company can quickly resolve any issue that many state officials cannot solve for five years. We demonstrate that in Ukraine there are still companies that put the goal, and certainly reach it. We give jobs to people, we pay legal salary, we reconstruct the shipyard, build state-of-the-art facilities and river fleet, develop the infrastructure on the rivers. We are leaders in many sectors: in agriculture, commerce, logistics, shipbuilding and in the construction of hydraulic structures, ports, etc. To be successful, you should be successful in each of these directions.
You have read a lot of books. Did you succeed in putting anything of you have read in those books into practice?
I have read a lot of books written by people who had achieved great success in life, and it was interesting. I read Henry Ford, what difficulties he had to build up a business, and how his business, which was successful, affected the development of the entire America.
But in Ukraine, in contrast to America, I had to work in different conditions. To be successful here, you need to read another book – the book of life.
Do you have plans to write memoirs? Many would have been interested to read how the business was built up in Ukraine.
I receive many proposals to help with the writing of memoirs, but there is still a lot of work, a lot to be done; therefore, it is early to write memoirs. We want to add a new history to them, the history we will be creating