Ukraine is reviving horticulture. How a state grant helps to plant new gardens in time — the story of a company from Volyn
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Dara Volyn’s farm was established ten years ago. During the war, business faced a number of problems – rising production costs, loss of sales markets, and reduced income.
However, the entrepreneurs decided not to stop and expand their production in spite of everything – for this they used the state program eRobota, which provides the opportunity to receive a grant for starting and developing their own business.
A new beginning
Marina Yeleva and her parents planted an apple orchard in the village of Hrybovytsia near Novovolynsk on an area of more than 13 hectares back in 2013.
According to Maryna, she never thought that she would work in agriculture, but she had to move to the village where her grandfather lived and her father grew up. Then they decided to start some kind of business and after evaluating the possibilities, the impact on the environment, the needs of people, they concluded that farming is a good option.
Be that as it may, says the woman, but people eat every day. So, they rented land and planted an apple orchard. Later, soy and wheat were added to the apples.
Now the enterprise already has stable internal sales markets – they sell apples to trade networks in the region and neighboring regions. Earlier, fruits were also exported to Belarus, but with the beginning of a full-scale war, they no longer work there. From this, the businesswoman shares, they lost nothing, although it was more convenient to work with Belarusians, because they did not have long payment delays that exist in the domestic market.
In addition to the sales market, the war also affected the incomes of farmers – the price of fuel and plant protection products increased significantly, and the prices of fertilizers almost tripled. But the cost of products has not changed much.
“Profits have decreased, but there are state grants, previously there were state programs for reimbursing gardening expenses, which help to stay afloat,” Marina shared.
Therefore, they turned to the state program when they decided to expand. Through the Ukrsadprom association, Marina learned about the possibilities of the eRobota project, one of the key elements of which is the support of Ukrainian horticulture.
“To support small and medium-sized businesses, the government has launched a number of grant programs. Those who want to open their own business or expand an existing enterprise can receive irreversible assistance from the state. We stimulate entrepreneurs and, at the same time, reduce the unemployment rate throughout the country thanks to the self-employment of the active population. And, of course , an important task is the creation of new jobs,” said Yulia Svyridenko, First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Economy of Ukraine.
State support for ambitions
At the end of July 2022, the woman applied for UAH 1.3 million, and already in September, the first part of the grant was deposited into her bank account.
There were no significant problems with obtaining, since the project was developed in advance, and the entire area of the planned garden is equipped with an irrigation system for future planting. The company is still waiting for the rest of the funding to create a support system.
To fulfill the terms of the grant, Dara Volyn created three permanent jobs and will also hire seasonal workers. In particular, for harvesting, it is at least 30-40 people.
Farmers used part of the funds to buy apple seedlings, and the rest plan to buy elements of the support system for trees. Thus, the area of the garden increased by 8.5 hectares.
Its payback period is 5 years, and it begins to bear fruit literally in the second year. So already this spring, Marina will harvest the first crop on the new plot.
According to Marina, the program is Work is extremely beneficial for entrepreneurs. This is not a reimbursement of already spent funds, but their payment in advance for a future project, which allows for better business planning.
She recommends using such opportunities and receiving help from the state.
The woman says that it is too early to calculate profits, because usually, investments are returned somewhere in the fifth year after planting. However, with good care in Dary Volyn, they plan to get good harvests and the first money already in the third year.
Ambitious plans of the entrepreneur are not limited to this. In two or three years, when the garden grows, she wants to expand further. The life cycle of an apple orchard is about 15 years, so the first plantings will be uprooted, and others will take their place. In particular, the woman is considering growing pears, peaches and apricots.
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