Young Ukrainian Agriculturalists Persevere Despite War

While war with Russia dragged on in their homeland for the ninth straight month, young Ukrainian agriculturalists soldiered on to represent their country and support the Ukrainian ag economy at the 2022 Agromek Exhibition late in 2022.

Agromek, Northern Europe’s largest agricultural fair, reconvened in Herning, Denmark November 29 through December 2, 2022, after an extended, 4-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By special invitation from Agromek and grant funding from Danish, European Union, and U.S. agricultural and development agencies, Ukraine had a stunning presence at the 2022 agricultural trade show. A team of fiercely loyal Ukrainian marketers staffed the sharply impressive, bright blue-and-yellow-decked marketing stand, eager to support their homeland and its people.

“Our presence here is very important to our country,” said Oleksandr Malyi, Chief Executive Officer for Boguslav®, an equipment manufacturer that specializes in sprayers and manure applicators. Boguslav is located in the central Ukraine city of the same name.

Malyi said roughly half of the Ukrainian economy has been destroyed by the war. “This is our first visit to the Agromek show,” he shared. “It is very important for us to work because we need to generate income to fund our army and support the fighting effort. In agriculture, we work.”

Manufacturing still is happening at Boguslav, although it is sometimes interrupted by intermittent power outages. Steel and sheet metal, previously supplied from the hard-hit Mariupol region in southeast Ukraine, now must be accessed elsewhere, mostly from Poland.

Boguslav Chief Operating Officer and Director of Marketing Vladyslav Snytyuk is a Ukrainian citizen who has been living in Poland for the past 10 years. The two young professionals were staffing the Ukrainian stand at the Agromek show to focus not so much on direct sales, but to find agents throughout Europe to multiply their sales efforts.

Those sales in other parts of Europe will be important because an estimated 70% of their domestic market potential within Ukraine’s borders has evaporated due to war damage.

Ten other companies shared marketing space at the National Stand of Ukraine, representing a collection of diverse equipment including grain carts, various trailers, forage harvesters, disk harrows, tanker bodies, and even solar-panel-cleaning equipment.

“Our presence at this show is a demonstration of how dynamic our agricultural industry is,” said Malyi. “Despite the war, the portions of agriculture that are not directly affected by the fighting are alive and well. You’ll notice there are no Russian factories or exhibitors here.”

Refugee Upheaval

The Ukrainians staffing the exhibit were granted special, 25-day visas to leave the country. Otherwise, all males ages 18-60 are mandated to stay in Ukraine under martial law.

They said about 7 million of Ukraine’s 40 million people have left the country, often separating families. While they fear some Ukrainians will never return to their homeland, others who initially evacuated already have gone back.

Snytyuk and his wife took in several refugees at their home in Poland for 3 months in the spring of 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion. But their guests all have returned to Ukraine to reunite their families, despite deteriorating conditions there.

Ukrainian agricultural journalist Anna Nazarenko left the country by herself on February 24, on a 3-week journey that eventually led her to Austria. The farm magazine that employs her currently is not able to print, but maintains an online presence.

Nazarenko was attending the show thanks to a grant from the Agromek organization. She was grateful for the opportunity to share news of ag innovation with her readers. “Of course, I can’t visit Ukrainian farms now, but our readers still rely on us for current information,” she said.

Remote work arrangements allow Nazarenko to generate magazine content, but she also spends much of her time assisting fellow refugees. “There are many Ukrainians in the area of Austria where I now reside,” she shared.

Because she speaks German and many of the refugees do not, she assists others with government documents, making transportation arrangements, and translating at doctor’s appointments, among other tasks. “Right now, it is most important that I help my people,” declared Nazarenko.

Rough Winter Ahead

In his travels outside the country, Malyi seized the opportunity to secure 9 portable generators that he planned to take back to Ukraine with him. He and his family and friends are anticipating a long winter marked by cold, food shortages, and intermittent electrical supplies.

His 10- and 14-year-old daughters both were continuing to attend school – the 10-year-old in person; the 14-year-old online. “With limited resources, we are attempting to keep younger children in school face-to-face for as long as possible,” he shared.

He also believed, however, that within a few weeks his younger daughter also would be forced to learn online – a challenge, considering that in the early weeks of November, electricity in their home was available only 2-3 hours per day.

“It is very sad that the Ukrainian people should have to pay this terrible price for Putin’s wrath,” stated Snytyuk. “Putin thinks he will wear us down, make us come to the table and surrender. To this, I say, ‘No, 100% no!’”

When asked about grim predictions for the upcoming winter regarding Putin’s strategy to freeze and starve the Ukrainian people into submission, Snytyuk declared, “The Ukrainian people want to be free. Our people might be without energy, without food, without electricity. But if we are without Russia, we will be happy.”