Nibulon has suffered $400 million in losses due to the war
The terminal in Mykolaiv is currently non-operational, the fleet is blocked, and russians are using barges to transport military equipment
Nibulon, one of the largest operators in the Ukrainian grain market, has incurred losses of around $400 million, lost about 40% of its staff, and is currently operating at 32% of its capacity since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
This was announced by Andriy Vadatursky, company's CEO, at the Ukrainian Recovery Conference (URC2023) in London.
"A few weeks ago, the russians blew up a dam, and the investments we have made over 15 years risk becoming non-operational," he commented on Thursday at the Transport, Logistics and Infrastructure roundtable in London, emphasising that restoring the dam and navigation in Ukraine is now the number one issue.
Meanwhile, Vadatursky noted that the terminal in Mykolaiv, built in 2003, is currently not operational, the fleet is blocked, and russians are using barges for military equipment transportation. In these conditions, the resumption of grain exports from Ukraine in September 2022 helped save the company from bankruptcy, the CEO explained.
He also reported that Nibulon has also opened a new demining subdivision and received a $4 million grant from the German government to purchase demining machinery. With their help, 1,500 hectares of agricultural land have already been demined. The company managed to sow 1,000 hectares of maize in the 2023 season. In addition, the grain trader received a grant from USAID worth more than $3 million for the purchase of railway wagons, and with the attracted €25 million from the Danish Investment Fund, Nibulon intends to build an elevator and a flour mill in Izmail, Vadatursky reported.
Background. Nibulon processed 82,000 hectares of land in 12 oblasts of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries worldwide before the war.
In 2021, the grain trader exported a record 5.64 million tonnes of agricultural products, achieving record deliveries to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tonnes, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tonnes, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tonnes.
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