How isWork helps businesses recover from the war. The history of an agricultural enterprise from the Kyiv region that came under occupation

[ad_1]

Volodymyr Kolodiy and Serhiy Leonov created their own agrarian business in the Kyiv region ROVI AGRO five years ago – in 2018. During this time, the entrepreneurs had to go through many difficulties, because in agribusiness, as Serhii says, “every year is back to the first class.”

The most difficult test was the occupation of a business at the beginning of a full-scale war. To deal with the colossal destruction caused by the occupiers, entrepreneurs were helped by the state program eRobota, which provides the opportunity to receive a grant for starting and developing their own business.

Agricultural business is a great business for connoisseurs of gambling

ROVI AGRO is located on a 35-hectare plot of land in the Vyshgorod district of the Kyiv region. In order to start his own business, the company’s co-founder Serhiy left the banking business. According to him, it was banking work that inspired him to this decision, because while working there he formed a broad idea of ​​Ukrainian business, and he singled out the agrarian direction as the most promising.

“Working in the banking sector, communicating with clients engaged in various types of business, I had a developed idea of ​​how this or that business in Ukraine feels. If you ask bankers: “Who is your favorite borrower?”, for the most part, you you will get the answer – “agriculture”, – explains the man.

The entrepreneur was also attracted by the opportunity to actually “feel” the result of his work, because working in the field he grows food for people, animals and poultry.

In addition, Serhiy jokes, he is ready to advise everyone who likes gambling to try their hand at agrarian business, because these are annual casino games.

At first, Volodymyr and Serhiy grew only traditional crops there – rye, corn, and sunflower. But then they decided to diversify the business – they planted a sea buckthorn garden and a melon.

The occupiers used tractors to cross the canals

A full-scale war was a real test for their business. Already in the first days after the invasion, the territory of the farm came under occupation.

“The war caused a lot of material damage, but the main thing is that none of our employees were injured. Yes, we lost most of the equipment, the Orcs used our tractors to make crossings across canals, the equipment that they could not drive out was shot, the harvester was blown up from the inside; it was stolen all property (tools, etc.),” ​​recalls Serhiy.

In addition, the enemy destroyed the finished products that were in the warehouse – sunflower stocks and almost the entire harvest and potential of all winter crops, as the entrepreneurs were unable to carry out the necessary winter crop fertilizing operations, weed control, etc. in time.

Fortunately, the sea buckthorn garden and irrigation system survived. And after the liberation, it made it possible to resume work and even make ambitious plans for the future.

How the work helped the affected company

One of these plans is the expansion of the sea buckthorn garden by 10 hectares. It was during its landing and the expansion of the irrigation system that the entrepreneurs decided to take a grant under the eRobota program. One of its key directions is the stimulation of horticulture and berry growing. In 2022, the state paid 39.7 million hryvnias of grant funds to entrepreneurs for these needs. The amount of the grant is up to UAH 400,000 per hectare, but at the same time, the recipient must cover 30% of the project cost with his own funds.

The state business support program isWork was developed and implemented in order to stimulate entrepreneurs to develop their own business during the difficult period of the war. It provides grant assistance, which is an undeniable advantage compared to lending. In exchange for the received funds, the state requires the entrepreneur to continuously operate the business, create jobs and pay taxes. Since the start of the program in mid-summer, several thousand entrepreneurs have managed to use it and can tell about their own experience.

Due to full-scale Russian aggression, unemployment in Ukraine has risen to almost 30%. According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, eRobota is one of those government programs designed to stimulate the creation of new jobs in the private sector. According to estimates of the Ministry of Economy, up to 300,000 new jobs can be created thanks to non-refundable grants.

Volodymyr and Serhii learned about these opportunities from the managers of Oschadbank, where their company has been served for a long time. The entire process of submitting and processing documents took a minimum of time. ROVI AGRO had a well-developed project, which made it possible to speed up the process. In a month, state funds – UAH 980,000 – have already gone to the company’s special account.

The entrepreneurs immediately spent part of the amount on the purchase of irrigation equipment. The works themselves will begin in the spring after warming. But everything necessary was purchased in advance, taking into account the inflation factor. The second part of the grant will be spent directly on seedlings.

In 2023, the owners expect the first technical harvest of sea buckthorn from previously planted plantations. And plantings planned for spring will bear fruit in the third year. And only for the fourth year, a full-fledged harvest is planned, after which you can count on profits.

Plans for the future

Entrepreneurs also plan to prepare production processing equipment for shock freezing during berry picking. And the next stage will be another increase in the area of ​​the garden. They are also thinking about entering the sea buckthorn tea production market in the future.

As stipulated by the grant conditions, ROVI AGRO will create 4-5 new jobs. These workers will take care of the garden and make sure that the irrigation system is functioning properly. Seasonal workers will be hired separately for harvesting, their number will depend on the yield.

Serhii is convinced that eRobota will help many entrepreneurs to diversify their business and thus make it more reliable.

“If the garden had already produced crops, it would not have been so difficult for us this year due to a large crop failure in classical crops,” he says.

But he emphasizes the importance of choosing the right culture that the entrepreneur wants to engage in.

“For example, recently entrepreneurs have been actively planting honeysuckle and I would not recommend starting this business any further. After all, the cost of a grown berry currently reaches the cost of its sale. You should make a qualitative analysis, understand what crop you will grow, how to grow it, and most importantly – understand what will you do next with this crop,” says the entrepreneur.

Taking into account the lack of available own funds in business, state programs help a lot – Serhiy is convinced and advises to use such opportunities.

[ad_2]

Original Source Link