KIEV: Bunge Ukraine opened on June 15 an industrial and transshipping complex at the Mykolaiv Sea Port in Ukraine. The company was joined with the President of Ukraine, the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and officials and representatives of the diplomatic corps at the opening of the complex. The complex includes one of Ukraine’s most powerful oil terminal factories for the production of vegetable oil and will increase capacity of the existing grain terminal.
Since the port directly affects economic performance, immediately creating 170 new jobs, the unveiling of this project is significant not only for the region, but for the whole country, the company said. The new complex will increase export potential – boosting product volume in Ukraine and cargo handling in the port by 1 million tonnes.
In addition to the aforementioned guests, representatives of international financial institutions and senior managers of both the company’s Ukrainian and foreign offices attended the opening ceremony: Bunge Chairman of the Board, Patrick Lupo; Bunge Chief Executive Officer for Europe, Middle East, and Africa Tommy Jensen; and Managing Director of Bunge Ukraine, Dmitry Gorshunov.
“The launch of this complex is an example of strong faith of the investor in good economic future of Ukraine,” said Petro Poroshenko, president of Ukraine. “These are not just words. These are the voting for Ukraine by money that create new jobs, increase tax revenues of state and local budgets, increase purchasing price of Ukrainian farmers and foreign exchange earnings of Ukraine, strengthen the exchange rate and act as the best advertisement for the investment opportunities and attractiveness of the country.”
The Industrial and Transshipping Complex of Bunge Ukraine is a modern, efficient, and ecological venture, the company said The principal goal of the project is not only to increase exports, but to change the very structure of all current practices – moving away from the simple exports of agricultural commodities to the export of various agricultural products. The company estimates that the new oil recycling plant will be able to process 790,000 tonnes of oilseed annually – that’s 2,400 tonnes of sunflower and 1,700 tonnes of soybeans per day. This means the complex’s reloading capacity is increased by 1.75 million tonnes of grain, meal, and oil every year.
“The building of this complex expands the strategy of our company, aimed at developing infrastructure in the Mykolaiv Sea Port,” said Dmitry Gorshunov, Bunge Ukraine’s managing director. “In 2011, the company built a modern transshipment terminal here, which increased the country’s grain export capacity to 3 million tonnes per year. The total cost of both projects is $280 million, and taking into consideration success of both projects, we will consider further investment in further areas beyond agribusiness infrastructure development in the future”.
The new complex is located very centrally at the port and therefore provides significant advantages in terms of logistics. It is only 100 meters from the pier, making it the first such project in Ukraine able to boast such proximity to the water, Bunge Ukraine said. The factory has modern high-tech equipment for the processing of oilseed through pressing and extraction, including equipment for cleaning, drying, and technological storage; preparatory workshop equipment; and equipment for the extraction process – all of which meets all international requirements.
The complex uses a modern solid fuel boiler that runs on renewable fuel, which includes husks derived as a result of processing the seeds, the company said. To automate the production processes, a computerized control system was installed. In order to ensure industrial and environmental safety measures are followed, modern systems for emergency power supply, fire fighting, sewage, and an industrial emissions purification system are included on site.
The Mykolaiv Sea Port is among Ukraine’s top seaports in terms of grain management and more than a third of its grain is handled by Bunge Ukraine directly. With the opening of this Industrial and Transshipping Complex, Bunge Ukraine further increases its performance and the Mykolaiv Sea Port could well achieve the status of a unique national project due to the continued support of international companies, the company said.
