Elizaveta Svyatkivska, reviewer
From June 7 till June 11, 2000, Chubinskoye village,
Borispol district, Kiev region, hosted the 12th International specialized
agricultural exhibition-fair AGRO-2000. The list of local some 352 Ukrainian companies
that represented the Ministry for Agrarian Policy of Ukraine, the State Committee for
Industrial Policy, the State Departments for Foods and Fishery, and Ukrsadvinprom concern
took part in the exhibition this year compared to 338 local participants in the previous
exhibition. The number of foreign participants also went up against AGRO-99. Some 85
companies and firms from 25 countries of the world participated in AGRO-2000 compared to
50 foreign companies from 19 countries back in 1999. Moreover, for the very first time the
exhibition was attended by Turkish and Japanese firms. Here is another distinguishing
feature: the reformed private agricultural companies took part in this year’s
exhibition. The novelties embraced such events as the Region’s Day, Canada Day, Day of
the Ukraine’s Agrarian Party, and Technical Policy Day. Over 110,000 attended the
exhibition.
Preliminary estimates of the AGRO-2000 organizers show
that roughly 1,000 contracts and 2,187 protocols of intention involving the total of UAH
197.4 million were sealed immediately at the exhibition. Sales of products totaled UAH 2.7
million, though Petr Sheiko, head of administrative department with the Ministry for
Agrarian Policy, has mentioned that this is not the final figure for some of the
participants simply did not make this kind of information public.
These figures prove that the AGRO exhibition is turning
more into a commercial event. This year, only the companies subordinate to the State
Committee for Industrial Policy, sold 20 pieces of machinery and equipment worth UAH 1.6
million. Businessmen have entered into contracts for sale of 640 pieces of various farm
machinery and equipment in exchange for the total of UAH 64 million (Khmelnitsky-based
private JSC Advis negotiated sale of 123 Maral 125 Podillya fodder combine harvesters, LAN
concern sold 173 harvesters, Kharkov-based Malyshev Plant realized 4 Obriy combine
harvesters, private JSC Chervona Zirka signed a contract involving 30 seeders). Moreover,
there have been signed 1,549 protocols of intention to supply 1,897 pieces of various farm
machinery worth UAH 88 million. These figures definitely convince that participation in
the exhibition is a beneficial step.
Considering all these facts and figures, it seems kind
of hard to believe that the country’s agriculture is going through a recession. Domestic
and foreign firms exhibited the best types of machinery, goods, services, modern
technologies, new high-quality livestock breeds at the AGRO. It has turned out that
Ukraine has profitable companies in almost every agricultural sector, while the local
livestock breeding has superb pedigree stock and farm machinery. One should not be
deceived by all this. In fact, the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex faces more than
enough problems and the exhibition simply shows the selected achievements of the industry.
After having a look at the exhibition, Victor Yushchenko, the Ukraine's Prime Minister,
briefly stated that, “This is the place to popularize the testing farming methods and
these exhibitions will quicker make us understand how the agro-industrial complex should
function”. We definitely share this point of view. The organizers of AGRO believe that
their exhibition is turning into a paramount element of modern business relations with
local and foreign companies, as well as assist active promotion of Ukrainian goods and
services to domestic and foreign markets.
the majority of participants
Exhibitions
