Ukraine resumed the construction of vegetable storehouses in 2023, with a total capacity of approximately 10,000 tons.
This information was provided by Andriy Marushchak, the Commercial Director of Van Dijk Technics LLC, in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine.
During the first year of the conflict, only one storage facility with a capacity of 1,000 tons for potato storage was built in the Kyiv region by LLC “Brovary Kartoplia”. In 2023, we can observe a revival in the market, as 15 storage facilities with a total capacity of 10,000 tons were constructed. Compared to the pre-war level of investment, farmers have come a long way. In 2021, they built potato storage facilities with a total capacity of 51,000 tons, primarily consisting of large projects with capacities of 10,000 tons. Only two market participants invested in projects with capacities of 2,000 tons.
According to Marushchak, small-capacity vegetable storehouses were built by farmers in the Chernihiv, Vinnytsia, Ternopil, Lviv, and Cherkasy regions. They are mainly intended for the storage of onions (85% of the constructed capacities) and potatoes (15% of the capacities).
The expert noted that farmers used their own funds earned from selling vegetables at record prices that were established in the autumn and spring of 2022-2023.
Marushchak reminded that the construction of a potato storage chamber with a capacity of 1,000 tons costs a farmer 10 million UAH. An optimal capacity for vegetable storage is a vegetable storehouse with a capacity of 4-5 thousand tons, and a potato storage facility with a capacity of 2-3 thousand tons. They are equipped with a sorting and packaging line, the cost of which ranges from 4 to 20 million UAH depending on the type and productivity.