By KYIV. Dec 5 (Interfax-Ukraine) – KWS-Ukraine LLC, specializing in the production and distribution of seeds, intends to commission the second stage of a seed conditioning complex in Kamyanets-Podilsky (Khmelnytsky region) at the beginning of 2024, the company reported on Facebook.
“The decision to build a modern seed production plant in Ukraine in 2015 was a logical step in the development of our production concept with the aim of ensuring local sales of high-yielding hybrid corn seeds of German selection… With the EU recognition of equivalence for seeds grown in Ukraine, we have expanded our capabilities. Since the fall of 2021, we have been successfully exporting seeds to EU markets, consolidating the position of our seed plant in Kamyanets-Podilsky in the European KWS production network,” the statement says.
According to the Ukrainian representative office of the German breeding company, the production capacity of the seed plant in Kamyanets-Podilsky will increase to 700,000 sowing units of corn per season. The total investment will amount to almost EUR35 million from the start of the project in 2015.
The second phase of construction repeats the first, including a receiving unit, husker tables, a specialized dryer, a threshing unit, a seed processing line and the required number of compounds. The production line uses technology from PETKUS, which is implemented by the general contractor KESZ UA Holding together with DELTA Ukraine.
Currently, the plant employs 54 full-time employees. KWS-Ukraine LLC intends to increase their number by 60% within 2 years and annually recruit up to 180 temporary workers per season.
“In 2022, due to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the project was terminated, but KWS remained unwavering in its dedication. Investment in construction during the war is the best proof of the faith of the company’s shareholders in Ukraine and the work of our colleagues and partners. The completion of the second production line is integral proof of KWS’s adherence to the goals of sustainable growth and contribution to the prosperity of Ukraine and its victory,” the company emphasized.
KWS is one of the world’s leading companies in the selection and production of crop seeds with 160 years of experience and representatives in more than 70 countries. The company’s head office is located in Germany.
The subsidiary KWS-Ukraine LLC was founded in 2001. The company offers agricultural producers seeds of sugar beets, corn, sunflowers, fodder beets, winter rapeseed, rye, and spring barley. In the village of Zakupne, Khmelnytsky region, there is a division of KWS-Ukraine for the production and calibration of corn seeds.
