PRESS RELEASE: Kyiv AGRO-2011 Forum on the Evolution of Agricultural Markets

The AGRO-2011 forum on the Evolution of the Agricultural Markets was held on 24 March 2011 in Kyiv. The forum was a platform for dialogue between agricultural market experts, representatives from leading consulting companies, the financial sector and governmental authorities.

The forum was opened by Anatoly Rozgon, Director of the Agricultural Market Development Department within the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture & Food. Rozgon spoke about the dynamics of development and prospects for the food market while drawing attention to the collaborative actions of the authorities and businesses against market speculation. Bagrat Ahidjanov, Deputy Director of the Finance Department within the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture & Food, in turn spoke about the support the government is giving to the agricultural sector. The event also looked at the key features of the budget program for 2011 in detail.

Continuing with the topic of the state's role in developing the Ukrainian agricultural sector, Tatyana Karnauh, a lawyer at Prokopenko, Chuyko & Partners law firm, covered the issue of using certain government regulatory tools in the agricultural sector. Her report also addressed price regulation, setting quotas, licensing, state purchases and stock exchanges.

The participants' interest was particularly sparked by the problems of funding in the Ukrainian agricultural sector and its attractiveness to potential investors. Taras Grytsa, Senior Manager in the Deloitte FAS department, spoke about the tools currently used by agricultural companies to attract financing, and outlined the opportunities for companies of various sizes that operate in different areas of the industry. According to Mykhaylo Melnyk, a director in the Deloitte Audit department, the statistics for the last couple of years indicate that the sector's development is more dynamic and consistent compared to other industries. While in other industries it is possible to see abrupt growth (or decline), agricultural companies demonstrate relatively steady growth. Naturally, this has not gone unnoticed by investors.

Sergiy Stratonov, chairman of the Supervisory Board at Universal Bank (a leading Ukrainian bank), provided his view on trends, perspectives and instruments used for financing the agricultural sector in 2011. Meanwhile, representatives from the IFC and EBRD spoke about current Ukrainian programs for financing agricultural projects.

The attendees also heard from Yuri Zolotar, the head of Management for Insuring Against Agricultural Risks at the TAS Insurance Group. Zolotar explained why it is essential to make sure that insurance is in place and also detailed effective ways of insuring agribusinesses.

In addition to general issues that affect all agricultural market participants, the forum attendees were also able to find out more about development in certain areas of the industry. Oleksandr Odosy, Head of the Agricultural Department at Derzhzovnishinform and Yevgen Shevchenko, Regional Development Manager for the Cargill grain growing market, talked to the participants about business trends in the world's grain-growing markets. Reviews were also presented on global and Ukrainian oil producing plant markets, sugar markets, mineral fertilizer markets and farming machinery markets. Detailed consideration was also given to developmental issues related to domestic seed-growing, as Victor Borisyk, chairman at Mais, Sinelnikovo, gave a talk about opportunities in the seed-growing market.

Overall, the AGRO-2011 forum gathered together nearly 100 participants and featured representatives from agribusiness companies, consulting companies, financial institutions, insurance companies, government authorities and the media.

The forum was organized by Conference House and Agrarica. Deloitte, an international audit and consulting firm, was an official partner of the event. Other partners included: Prokopenko, Chuyko and Partners, Mais, Universal Bank and Allseeds. Polyana, a wine market network, helped to organize the buffet.

The Interfax-Ukraine News Agency was the General News Partner of the event.