Loans available for the construction of vegetable storage facilities: how farmers can take advantage of the new opportunity
18 April 16:56
The Ukrainian government has expanded the program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9”, increasing the opportunities for farmers to invest in the construction of vegetable storage facilities. This was reported by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, "Komersant Ukrainian" informs
The corresponding resolution “On Amendments to the Procedure for Providing Financial State Support to Business Entities” was adopted at a regular meeting of the Government.
“From now on, agricultural producers investing in the construction of vegetable and potato storage facilities will be able to benefit from state support in the form of compensation of the interest rate on loans – up to UAH 150 million, as well as livestock and processing enterprises,” said Vitaliy Koval, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
What is Ukraine’s need for vegetable storage facilities?
Due to the war and the destruction of infrastructure in Ukraine, the shortage of storage facilities has increased to 60%. The need to build storage facilities is 340 thousand tons. These figures were provided by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
According to Vitaliy Koval, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, vegetable storage facilities with a capacity of at least 10-20 thousand tons of produce need to be built in each region of Ukraine to store the harvest.
The official called on businesses to invest in vegetable storage facilities, emphasizing that one of the reasons for the shortage of vegetables in Ukraine is the lack of storage capacity.
How many vegetable storages are there in Ukraine now?
In Ukraine, the volume of vegetable storages with a regulated gas environment and microclimate support is 300,000 tons, and with natural ventilation – 324,000 tons. This was reported by Ukrinform in March, citing data from the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.
The total capacity of storage facilities under construction and renovation is 47,000 tons, including new vegetable storage facilities with a capacity of 26,000 tons, and storage facilities with a capacity of 21,000 tons are under reconstruction.
Previously, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy estimated that, subject to the reallocation of budget funds, it would be possible to start construction of 78 vegetable storage facilities in 2025-2027. In particular, 15 storages with a capacity of 10,000 tons and 63 storages with a capacity of 3,000 tons. The ministry predicts that the cost of the project could reach $134 million.
How actively do farmers use the affordable loan program?
Since the beginning of the year, 1,659 farms participating in the state program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9” have been financed for UAH 8.9 billion.
Starting from January 1, 2025, loans under the program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9” will be provided to agricultural producers (prolonged) provided that they are registered in the State Agrarian Register.
In particular, under the program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9”, the largest amount of funds was received by enterprises in the following regions:
Kyiv region – UAH 892.3 million for 138 farms;
Chernihiv region – UAH 855.4 million for 116 farms;
Odesa – UAH 711.9 million for 140;
Kirovohrad – UAH 680.5 million for 152;
Vinnytsia – UAH 630.8 million for 124;
Sumy – UAH 601.5 million for 77;
Poltava – UAH 536.2 million for 90;
Dnipropetrovska – UAH 432.4 million for 82 companies.
In total, since the beginning of the year, 4,438 agricultural enterprises have attracted more than UAH 20.3 billion in bank loans for development under various programs.
In 2024, 13,088 agricultural enterprises received almost UAH 104.5 billion in bank loans for development. And under the state program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9”, 8,750 farms were financed for UAH 46.9 billion.
It is worth reminding that preferential financing for agricultural producers under the Affordable Loans 5-7-9 Program during 2024-2025 is possible thanks to the support of the World Bank under the Emergency Project for Inclusive Support for the Recovery of Ukrainian Agriculture (ARISE). Farmers can receive a loan of up to UAH 90 million. Loans are provided at 5-9% per annum, depending on the loan category and business entity.
