Ukrainian agricultural holding Avangard plans to increase its export of eggs to between 50-60% of the company’s total sales. This growth in export is to be realised in the coming 3 to 5 years, says Avangard.
“Previously we delivered 80% of our production to the domestic market and exported 20% to countries abroad. Right now, we are devising a strategy which is to increase our exports to at least 50-60% of our total production,” said majority shareholder of Avangard Oleg Bakhmatyuk at the investment conference “New Ukraine”.
According to Bakhmatyuk, the unstable situation in the Donbass significantly influenced the egg business last year, which resulted in the company losing 37% of the domestic market and facing strong inflation. Avangard reduced its egg production in 2014 by 10% in comparison with 2013, producing a total of 6.306 billion eggs. This drop in production was due to the reduction of the total number of birds by 28% to 23.3 million heads and a reduction of the number of layers by 31% to 18.6 million heads.
This decrease in the number of birds is partly explained by the closure of poultry farms in Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts and the Crimea, the total capacity of which was calculated at about 3.7 million layers.