Vitagro to create Danish DanBred pig nursery in Khmelnytsky region
Vitagro Group of Companies and leading Danish genetic company DanBred have signed an agreement to create a breeding nursery for breeding sows in Khmelnytsky region, the company's press service said.
According to the statement, the Vitagro Group of Companies started the project to build a new farm in cooperation with DanBred in 2023. The farm is designed for 1,000 sows kept simultaneously and will be able to raise up to 9,000 piglets and up to 250 boars annually. The first offspring in the nursery are expected in November-December 2025, and sales on the Ukrainian market will start in early 2026.
The farm will breed purebred pigs of the DanBred Yorkshire, DanBred Duroc and DanBred Landrace breeds. In addition, the main hybrids of the DanBred breeds and Duroc boars will be grown. This will provide the entire DanBred genetics line in Ukraine, and in the future, Duroc seed material will also become available.
The first two batches of animals have already been delivered to Ukraine and in early June they will be delivered to the new farm. The third batch of animals will arrive in Ukraine at the end of June.
"Our pig breeding department has been working with Danish genetics for more than ten years, but now this work will reach a new level, because we will be able to grow the genetics here, in Ukraine, together with our foreign partners," Project Manager at the Vitagro group of companies Ivan Varvarchyn said.
In his opinion, the successful signing of the agreement also indicates that world-famous companies are actively studying promising sectors of the Ukrainian economy and, despite the risks, are ready to invest in Ukraine if they see reliable partners here.
Regional Director of DanBred in Europe Stefan Derks said this step, firstly, is decisive in the development of their strategy, and secondly, it reflects their desire to invest in the development of our Ukrainian business even during the war. He added that they see prospects in Ukrainian pig farming and are confident that the industry expects rapid development.
President of the Ukrainian Pig Farmers Association Oksana Yurchenko said the arrival of companies such as DanBred in Ukraine signals that Ukraine is interesting to foreign investors.
"In addition, our pig farming has long since turned into a high-tech business that understands the value of global developments in genetics and actively uses them in its work," she said.
DanBred is a supplier of genetics and service solutions for professional producers. DanBred reported annual revenue of EUR 147.2 million and EBITDA of EUR 8.2 million in 2024, with pre-tax profit of EUR 6 million. At the end of 2024, DanBred had local breeding nurseries in 20 countries around the world, which Ukraine has now joined. DanBred is founded by the Danish Council for Agriculture and Food, an organization that has been professionally developing Danish pig genetics for more than 120 years.
Vitagro Group of Companies is one of the largest industrial groups in Ukraine with assets in the agricultural, energy, processing, construction and chemical industries. Founded and operating since 1998. It owns enterprises in Khmelnytsky, Rivne, Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk and Kyiv regions. It cultivates about 90,000 hectares of land, and is also engaged in animal husbandry, horticulture, renewable energy, fertilizer and feed production, construction and production of building materials. During the full-scale invasion, the group built and launched 5 processing plants. Vitagro's head office is located in Khmelnytsky.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs, the ultimate beneficiary of the Vitagro investment company is MP Serhiy Labaziuk (parliamentary faction "For the Future").