Agroton to increase land holdings by one third by 2013, grain storage facilities by 70.2%

Kyiv, October 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Luhansk-based Agroton agro-industrial holding plans to expand its land holdings by one third by 2013, to 200,000 hectares and expand its grain and oilseeds storage facilities by 70.2%, to 400,000 tonnes, the company's director general, Yuriy Zhuravliov, has said.

"We plan to expand our land holdings to 200,000 hectares in the next two years and boost elevator capacities to 400,000 tonnes," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine in Kyiv on Friday.

He said that next year the holding plans to increase it leased land plots to 180,000 hectares and its grain storage capacities to 365,000 tonnes.

He said that the company intends to build new elevators or expand existing ones. In addition, he said that Agroton wants to purchase the elevators of Khlib Ukrainy state-run joint-stock company if the state decides on the privatization of the company.

Zhuravliov said that the holding is considering the possibility of building elevators and expanding its land holdings in Kharkiv, Donetsk and perhaps Poltava regions.

To realize the said plans, Agroton plans to use its own funds and funds raised from the public offering of a 26.2% stake worth $54.3 million on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Agroton, founded in 1992, is one of the biggest agricultural producers in Eastern Ukraine. The company leases 134,000 hectares of farmland and controls elevators with capacity for 235,000 tonnes of grain. The holding specializes in grain and oilseed crops, production and sale of livestock products and production of bakery goods, pasta and cheeses.