Krupetsk Agricultural Corporation, a Rivno-based poultry manufacturer, has started the construction of an egg farm designed for 400,000 laying hens in western Ukraine, the press office of the Rivno regional administration disclosed. This is the first industrial poultry farm construction project since the beginning of the hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022.
The farm is due to be built at a site of the abandoned agricultural enterprise in the Sitnoe village in the Rivno region, the authorities said. Construction began in March 2023 and is slated to be finished by November 2023. Egg production is planned to be certified in accordance with European standards to pave the way for exports to the European Union. The company said that it has already installed poultry cages approved by European regulators.
Krupetsk Agricultural Corporation currently runs 2 broiler farms, an egg farm and a feed mill in the Rivno region. The company also grows corn, wheat, barley, sunflower and sugar beet on 7 ha of agricultural land in western Ukraine. In previous years, the company exported a part of its products primarily to the Middle East and Africa.
Vitaly Koval, head of the regional administration, was quoted as saying that by building this poultry farm, the investor sends an important signal to the entire industry.
“Krupets Agro-Corporation always goes forward, investing in new projects. They give everyone involved in the business a very important message: do not stop. Despite the wartime challenges, today, our rear region reliably holds the economic front,” Koval said.
The poultry farm will create 20 high-pay jobs and is expected to pay UAH 3 million (US$81,300) in taxes per year to the Krupetsk rural community, he added.
Ukraine’s egg market faced unprecedented turbulence in 2023. In May, the average retail price exceeded the same level of the previous year by 125%. Despite a price relief in the past few months, the situation remains tense.
To some extent, the market turbulence is attributed to ongoing fights in the Donetsk region, where 7 out of 8 farms suspended operation, the regional administration said in February 2023. At one farm, 1 million chickens died due to shelling, Elena Ryabakova, head of the agricultural department of the Donetsk regional administration, said in the statement.
In previous years, the Donetsk region was one of the key suppliers of eggs to the Ukrainian market, so these losses largely impacted the price dynamics.