agriculture

In spite of massive backing by public financial sources, Ukraine’s monopolist poultry producer does not implement relevant EU and EBRD standards, and the EBRD has said it is satisfied that the company’s operations are in compliance with national law, which is anyway not the case at present.

Ukrainian company Myronivsky Hliboproduct PJSC (MHP) is a long-term client of both the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation. MHP development has faced local opposition in a number of communities. Activists leading the opposition to MHP operations seem to have been framed for drug-related offences and/or beaten. Information on the incidents listed below is available in the public domain, however, they show only the tip of the iceberg.

MHP is at the centre of concern for local communities and civil society organisations in Ukraine, because of the way the company engages stakeholders, acquires land, and impacts the environment, water and the local economic development. Since 2010 the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved three loans for MHP, totalling USD 205 million.

Whether or not the company is in compliance with Ukrainian law, local people think they are not adequately protected and do not have an equal voice against a large corporation if it decides to begin construction.

A closer look at Europe’s recent investments in Ukraine’s agriculture sector shows that the failure to apply high transparency standards and social safeguards poses not only business risks but also undermines Ukraine’s democratisation process.