05.02.2016 | News
NEFCO and the Danish-Ukrainian company LLC DFU Agro have signed a loan agreement aimed at upgrading the latter’s production facilities in Korosten in Ukraine. One of the aims of the project is to improve the manure treatment procedures at the farm by establishing closed manure storage lagoons and by upgrading the current distribution of manure. The existing farm buildings will also be refurbished and a new ventilation system will be installed.
LLC DFU Agro is a sister company to the Danish company DanFarm, which has solid experience of pig farming in Ukraine. The farm in Korosten in the Zhytomyr region in Ukraine produces approximately 100,000 finishers (grower pigs weighing over 70 kg) annually. The farm, which consists of two sites in the region, generates up to 50,000 cubic metres of manure per year.
NEFCO will provide a loan of EUR 3 million for the project from its Investment Fund, which currently has overall capital of EUR 113.4 million. The other financiers of the project are the Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), Berry Farm ApS and DFU Agro itself.
The project is expected to reduce the discharges of phosphorus by 46 tonnes and nitrogen by some 95 tonnes annually. This is achieved by improving the distribution system of the manure generated and by introducing a new fodder system that opens for low protein feeding that reduces the emissions of ammonia. In terms of energy benefits, the new ventilation systems and the installation of LED lights will reduce the electricity consumption by some 95 megawatt hours per year. Upcoming improvements to the drying system of the feed factory will also generate environmental gains by reducing the consumption of gas, which in turn will translate into a reduction of carbon dioxide of about 33,000 tonnes annually.
“I think that this investment could serve as a demonstration project to hopefully inspire other investors to carry out similar measures at animal farms elsewhere,” says Senior Investment Manager Bo Nyhus from NEFCO.