A total of $2.08 billion’s worth of foods was exported in the first 9 months of 2018 (up 2.9% year-on-year). Manufacturers of garments and footwear exported products worth $793.5 million at the same period (up 13.8% for clothing and up 17.3% for footwear year-on-year). Numerous large and medium-sized such companies operate in Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Dnipro and Zaporizhia regions, and local food manufacturers are increasing their output. Following the 2016 coming into force of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, many enterprises have begun exporting to Germany, France, the UK, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and other European countries. Exports are also directed to the CIS and Asia.
Urban fashion
In Poltava Region, production of textiles, clothes and footwear accounts for just 0.4% of overall industrial output. A total of 535.8 million hryvnias’ worth of such commodities was sold here in the first 10 months of 2018, which is not much. Still, there are several interesting production enterprises in the region. One of these is Horyshni Plavni-based Tiko Markering, a garment manufacturer. Founded in December 1998, the enterprise launched the Titto brand in 2010. There is also VORSKLA-STYLE firm, which manufactures women’s clothes. It was founded back in 1924 and currently employs 530 personnel over an area of 6,500 sq.m. Its nine production lines have a total capacity of 40,000 pieces of clothing per month. The enterprise has been exporting to Germany, Italy and France for the past 20-plus years.
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Zaporizhia Region, with its powerful heavy duty industry, is not particularly known for local clothing and footwear manufacturers: such products accounted for just 0.3% of all regional sales in the first 10 months of the year at 536,9 million hryvnias. There is, however, the KORA company, established in 1988, which produces 15,000 pieces of clothing majoring in children's, women's and men's knitwear. Another sowing factory, Viva, manufactures household textiles. The local well known footwear specialist Mida has a chain of distributors across Ukraine.
Flax, linen, footwear
Sumy Region’s sales of textiles, footwear and clothing account for 2% of all salesу (771.04 million hryvnias’ worth sold in the first 10 months of the year). The region leads Ukraine in the output of specialised footwear. Romny-based Talanprom Ltd. manufactures over 60% of the country’s specialised footwear. The town of Hlukhiv is home to Linen of Desna company, one of Ukraine’s largest enterprises, which boasts the full cycle of flax production, from the growing of flax and industrial hemp to the manufacture of ropes, fuel pallets, insulation materials and, since 2016, flax canvas. The company produces up to 1,000 tonnes of flax fibre and up to 500 tonnes of hemp fiber per year, mostly exporting to Europe and Asia. Sumy-based textile factory Charivna Nich has been manufacturing bed linen for the past eight years.
Dnipro Rregion, another industrial centre, cannot boast a developed light industry with only 0.3% of all industrial sales in the first 10 months of 2018 accounted for by textile and footwear products at 1.3 billion hryvnias. Still, there are a number of local footwear specialists large and small, which sell locally and also export. Viko, established in 1993, manufactures women’s leather footwear. Another footwear factory, POLI, has been around for 25 years. There is also ALiSA GOLD collection production enterprise in Dnipro city.
Kharkiv Region’s textile, clothing and footwear industry accounts for 1% of all sales (1.58 billion hryvnias’ worth sold in January through October 2018). Major enterprises include the clothing specialist Almatti and the footwear manufacturers VALURE, SLIP and Modus Vivendi.
Sweet and savoury
The country’s food industry is developing more actively than its textile industry, which normally requires imported equipment and raw materials. Food manufacturers are better off, seeing as Ukraine is an agrarian country so provides enough of indigenous raw materials for the sector. There are many meat, confectionery and beverages producers in Kharkiv Region. The local private joint stock company “Kharkivsky zhyrovy kombinat” (Fat Combine) was founded back in 1932. It currently produces dozens of varieties of margarine, culinary fats and creams. There are two confectionery factories Kharkiv biscuit factory PJSC and Kharkovchanka confectionery factory (both are The Biscuit-Chocolate Corporation enterprises) and closed joint-stock company Khladoprom, the local manufacturer of ice cream. Rohan Brewery was bought by the Belgian corporation Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2000. SMK Group’s subsidiaries Saltiv Meat Combine and Bohodukhivsky Meat Combine specialise in meat and sausages.
Zaporizhia Region’s food industry is represented by bakeries, confectioneries, meat and dairy producers, milling companies, oil manufacturers, seafood processing enterprises, canning factories, breweries and distilleries. The largest such companies are Melitopol Meat Packing Plant, Berdyansk Meat Packing plant (an SMK Group company) and Slavutich Brewery (a Carlsberg Group company).
Poltava Region boasts a number of food, drinks and tobacco manufacturers, which together employ 17,300 personnel or 21% of the region’s employees. The major producers are Myrhorod Mineral Water Plant, the confectionery specialist Poltavakonditer confectionery factory and Poltavapyvo Brewery.
Sumy Region is home to over 120 large, medium and small food manufacturing and processing companies, which produce 15.3% of the country’s fatty cheeses, 5.5% of butter, 6% of meat and 4% of confectionery. The region’s key manufacturers include the cheesemaking enterprise Bel Shostka Ukraine, the confectionery factory Mondelez Ukraine and Obolon Group’s Okhtyrka Brewery PJSC.
Danone Kremez, Kremenchuk, Poltava Region
Danone Group’s Ukrainian operation produces and distributes a broad range of dairy products and foods for infants. It employs over 1,100 personnel locally, including more than 500 staff at the Kremenchuk production facility. The factory’s capacity stands at 112,000 tonnes of milk, cheese and dairy products. Danone Group is present in 130 countries, and invested 25 million euro in its Kremenchuk factory.
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Rohan Brewery, Kharkiv
Kharkiv’s Rohan Brewery was founded in 1989 and became part of Anheuser-Busch InBev Group in 2000. It currently employs over 300 personnel and produces 5.6 million litres of beer annually. The company’s food safety management system is certified to ISO 22000:2007, and its quality management system complies with ISO 9001:2008.
Bel Shostka Ukraine, Shostka, Sumy Region
The Shostka Dairy Combine has been property of Bel Group, France, since 2007. The enterprise specialises on cheeses, and launched 2 million euros’ worth processed cheese production line in 2015 at an annual capacity of 9,000 tonnes. Bel Group operates in more than 120 countries and employs nearly 11,500 personnel. Its Ukrainian operation is among the top five national companies for dairy exports.
Text by Natalia Bohuta
Photo: shutterstock (7), danone.ua, biscuit.com.ua, khladoprom.com.ua
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