More and more Ukrainian pig producers understand that it is possible to survive on market of fierce competition only by implementing modern technologies and genetics; searching ways to reduce production cost and increase quality of products. But sometimes it’s not enough to use only own funds. Olena Voloshyna, Head of International Finance Corporation activities in Ukraine, told us about IFC as one of the ways to invite investments.

How attractive is agrarian sector of Ukraine to foreign investors?

Ukraineis famous for its chernozem and favorable climatic conditions for agricultural development. In future it may become the most requested exporter of agricultural production. That is why a lot foreign investors go on investing money in Ukrainian pig production and do it quite successfully. IFC has recently joined them. Its main task is to support Ukrainian agrarian sector.

 Why is IFC interested in pig production?

On one side Ukrainehas bright prospects for pig production development, but on the other side there are more than enough problems in the sector, e.g. a lot of companies don’t have long term financing, lack international qualification, that makes the access to foreign markets quite difficult. IFC helps in solving such problems, since we organize our work in Ukrainein such a way to maximally support the increase of the potential of the sector, offering so-called programmatic approach.

What does an enterprise need to become the client of IFC?

There is no standard procedure for choosing clients. Any company can apply to us directly from the street, send emails, call. Enterprises give us all the necessary information about the project and if we consider it attractive we ask for business plan or feasibility study to make decision about its financing. We choose our clients carefully. We look through hundreds of projects but choose only a few. The main reasons for that are that some enterprises don’t have clear strategy, the idea exists only on paper, or the enterprise has low production and financial results.

What should the minimal value of the project be to get the financial admission?

For the real sector of the economy the minimal value must be USD 7-10 mln. The best way to understand who may become our client is to look through the list of those who already are our clients. As a rule those companies are the leaders of the branch, with clear business strategy, they give consolidated financial statements according to international standards. The last criterion is not just the demand of IFC but a widely used practice which enables to compare the efficiency of the company with the companies from other countries and simplifies the procedure of outside financing.

- How does IFC support the development of its clients, but for financial support?

- What leaders of agrarian market have already experienced the reliability of IFC?

- Does the government encourage invitibng investments in agriculture?

- How does IFC avoid risky projects?

- What factors can prevent cooperation?

- What possibilities does IFC offer to small farms?

- How does IFC see the future of pig production of Ukraine?

You can read more in the magazine publication "Profitable Pig Production", №3 (5), 2011.