On February 23, in Kiev, it was held the V Dutch-Ukrainian Greenhouse Industry Forum "Profitable Greenhouse Production in Ukraine: latest developments and opportunities to improve efficiency".  

The forum was organized by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine, Association "Ukrainian Agribusiness Club», Agency "AgriEvent", and Exhibition Company S-TEAM. This event was supported by the Association “Greenhouses of Ukraine”, Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands within the business program of the industrial fair of equipment and technologies for greenhouse industry.

Participants of the Forum have discussed the results of the greenhouse sector last year and made their forecasts for 2016. Thus, Yevgen Chernyshenko, the President of the Association of Greenhouses of Ukraine in his speech, said that "today, practically all greenhouse enterprises work with minimal profit, that does not give any opportunity to develop the industry towards technical re-equipment and energy-saving solutions”. Mr Chernyshenko said that producers-members of the Association "Greenhouses of Ukraine” declared average profitability of 8-10% in 2015. Among the main factors that speeded down the development of greenhouse industry in 2015 were mentioned inflation processes, national currency devaluation, increasing cost of material and technical resources, high bank rates that were up to 25-30%, the low purchasing power of the population, the loss of markets.

Signing of the DCFTA with the EU became a serious challenge for the greenhouse industry, believes the President of the Association "Greenhouses of Ukraine". "We should be prepared for vegetable products from European manufacturers. First, the energy resources  in Europe are 20-30% cheaper compare to ours, in addition, bank loans cost 5-6% per year, and the enterprises work on modern equipment, which is much more efficient and less energy-consuming, - said Yevgen Chernyshenko. - Today we should look for new markets in the EU and Middle East countries, as well as in the Republic of Belarus. But this is possible only having the excellent quality and production certification according to European standards".

Taking into account the above-mentioned, organizers of the forum have chosen topics on improvement of domestic greenhouses efficiency.

"The absolute majority of the leading Ukrainian greenhouses were constructed with using of Dutch equipment and technologies, they grown vegetables from Dutch seeds, - explained Evert Jan Krajenbrink, Agricultural Counsellor of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands –That is why we are interested in Ukrainian producers who actively adopted advanced technologies, including the Dutch one, the experience of business organization and products marketing on the world market. At this event we have exchanged with knowledge on product promotion and cooperation, and also paid attention to the issues of quality improvement and personnel training”.

«Today the greenhouse producers face the difficulties in competing in the classical areas: production of cucumbers and tomatoes, so they need to look for a missing niche, - said at the Forum, Taras Vysotskyi, Director General of the Association "Ukrainian Agribusiness Club". Culture of consumption is changing and it is should be taken into account. Ukrainians increasingly consume green vegetables, but this market is not filled, most of these products are imported from the countries that do not have competitive advantages: better climate conditions or lower the cost of gas. The only thing that makes us different is good management and technology. That is why today greenhouse producers should learn good management practice, technologies and marketing, and find their niches".

Under crises conditions, when purchasing power has fallen, national currency has devaluated, and the main markets have been closed, the experts recommend producers to combine efforts and use the experience in cooperation gained by other countries to develop a common marketing strategy, and in exchanging the experience of new technologies application. Ferdi van Elswijk, Director of the Cooperative "Promìnent" (the Netherlands) described the cooperation in Greenhousing industry in the Netherlands. “Cooperative "Promìnent" is the leading manufacturer of tomatoes on branch in the Netherlands. Working in it, the producers reinforce the strengths of each other. We invest in knowledge and innovations, for example, we have created the Center for innovations, Training center and Academy of greenhouses "Promìnent". In the framework of these projects we introduce the opportunity for international investors in the greenhousing industry to adopt the experience of leading specialists of the cooperative. The final goal of this initiative is to open joint ventures, in which our experts could share their experiences through cooperation with other producers directly on the field.”

Oleg Shevchenko, Director of Dniprovskyi greenhouse company LLC, in his presentation  "Marketing of healthy and good quality vegetables, finding new markets, new tasks and challenges” presented own experience in vegetables production using French plastic greenhouses. On his belief, "only competently built marketing strategy allows the manufacturer of vegetables to use in maximum the market opportunities for getting profit”. He also shared his practical experience in entering the European market with greenhouse commodities produced by the Dniprovskyi greenhouse company LLC.

«Only when one knows the consumers and produce goods which meet their expectations, the producer can compete on the market of fruit and vegetables, - said Oleg Shevchenko. - But, as a rule, high quality product entails major costs of its production, so manufacturers today must constantly think how to minimize the costs, using all possibilities for their reduction. For ths we need such events events where we can learn and gain new knowledge”.

Other reports of the V Dutch-Ukrainian Greenhouse Industry Forum focused on assessment of the range of greenhouse production in 2016, the trends of the market, consumer preferences. Seed companies informed on the new range of their products. Also, participants discussed the investment attractiveness of energy-saving technologies and shared experience in growing vegetables in greenhouses with LEDs.