Ukraine has been the world’s leading producer and exporter of sunflower oil for many years. Elevatorist.com visited one of the country’s most powerful sunflower seed processing plants to explore every step of the oil’s creation, from sunflower seeds to the production and quality control of the finished product.

A brief history of the Zaporizhzhya Oil Extraction Plant

Zaporizhzhya Oil Extraction Plant (ZOEP) began its production in 1947, with an initial production capacity of around 400 tons per day (tpd). After a change of shareholder in 1997, work on the modernization and development of ZOEP started. Thanks to additional investments made in 2004, production capacity increased to 700 tpd, an oil filtration line with a capacity of 250 tpd, two hydration lines supplying 400 tpd, and two lecithin drying lines allowing seven tpd were installed. By 2005, the production capacity of ZOEP reached 780 tons tpd.

In 2010, a new oil extraction production facility specifically for processing sunflower seeds added, bringing capacity up to 1800 tpd.The plant further increased its production capacity, and today ZOEP total capacity is 2800 tpd.

 “Zaporizhzhya Oil Extraction Plant is one of the industry leaders in Ukraine and abroad. We have a sunflower seed production capacity of 900,000 tons per year, and in 2019 we also produced 368,000 tons of oil and about 330,000 tons of sunflower meal. Environmental safety and the implementation of our production program are our most important tasks. We support environmental initiatives and develop and implement environmental protection programs. We have a long history and we’ve grown into a very professional team of 574 people today who, together, successfully copes with the tasks we are set,” says Andrey Zakernichny, Production Director of Zaporizhzhya Oil Extraction Plant.

Reception and storage of sunflower seeds

Every day, between 70 and 150 vehicles with sunflower seeds arrive at Zaporizhzhya Oil Extraction Plant. Sunflower seed quality samples are taken using two Rakoraf autosamplers.

The accredited raw material laboratory conducts a technical analysis of the seeds using the arbitration method to create daily quality controls, under the watchful eye of the three laboratory technicians and an inspector foreman in each shift.

The work of the raw materials laboratory is organized on a twelve-hour schedule. The laboratory staff consists of the head of the raw materials laboratory, his deputy and four teams working in shifts.

In order to increase the throughput capability during acceptance of raw materials this year, Optimus Agro purchased a new moisture meter “Aquamatic”, which significantly reduces the time for the overall analysis of each machine.

The raw material laboratory also determines the oil content of the sunflower seeds in each transport unit using an NMR analyzer, followed by the analysis of the average daily sample in the testing laboratory by the arbitration method. The NMR analyzer is also set to determine the mass fraction of oil in rapeseed.

After the laboratory, the machines are sent to the weighing station, which has two 80-ton strain-gauge scales with a platform length of 18 m. They are served by one weigher. All data is entered into a special computer program.

After weighing, the machines go to unloading at three points of auto-reception. Sunflower seeds are transported from two truck unloaders to the storage warehouse (four silos and three floor stores with a total capacity of 30 thousand tons). In 2019-2020, the company invested EUR2.1 million in the construction of additional storage tanks for sunflower seeds.

Another route from the third truck unloader is a direct feed for seed cleaning, without an intermediate store. Five Buhler SMA-206 machines are in operation for cleaning. On average, their productivity is 3 thousand tons per day, but at peak loads this increases to 3.5 thousand tpd. The cleaned seeds are then sent for further processing.

Sunflower seed processing technology

Sunflower seeds are transported for processing from silos for pre-production cleaning using a series of transport elements. Then they go to an intermediate hopper, which is a buffer tank at the production facility. The seeds are then weighed, and samples are taken for quality analysis.

The oil production line is fully automated, with every stage of the process carefully controlled and monitored. Seed peeling is the first stage of this part of the production process, followed by the husk being separated and the sunflower seed being crushed and refined, the resulting mass then being subjected to moisture-heat treatment in braziers and then pressed, at which point the oil appears.

This oil is then put through two stages of purification; the first is in a thickened strap, and the second is on a vertical leaf filter with its own inspection window, which shows the oil clarifying and, in time, allows you to see the pure sunflower oil. Washing and filtration follows, with the oil then transferred to the finished product warehouse.

Sunflower husks are fed to beater separators, a special equipment designed for additional separation of the kernel from the husk. The husk, separated during processing, is sent to two operational silos with a total capacity of 3.5 thousand m3. One of them is for the husk granulation and its further export, and the second is a buffer storage for the fuel of its own CHP (combined heat & power generator). In 2019, about 150 thousand tons of husk were produced at the Zaporizhzhya Oil Extraction Plant.

After pressing, not only oil is obtained, but also oilcake with a residual oil content of 18 – 21%. First, this oilcake is cooled, and then it goes the extraction section.

The extraction site, which is in a separate closed area, is an explosive object, therefore, unauthorized personnel are strictly prohibited. To extract vegetable oil from the oilcake, a solvent that meets the requirements of the European REASN directives is used. This solvent complies with Ukrainian legislation for the use of vegetable fats extraction in the food industry, in accordance with the conclusion of the state sanitary and epidemiological examination No. 05.03.02-03 / 3344.

Once the oil is extracted, the oilcake required further processing, with the solvent distilled and the by-product non-granular meal is obtained, which is then stored in a dedicated warehouse on the same site. This warehouse is fully automated and equipped with Buhler machinery, with a EUR400,000 investment in building a line for the purification of phosphatide concentrate (lecithin from non-fatty impurities) implemented in 2019.

While the process of extracting the oil takes around two hours and the production of non-granular meal takes around three hours, it is only 40 minutes from unloading the sunflower seeds until the pressed oil is achieved.

Plant testing laboratory

Before sending the finished products to customers, the testing laboratory specialists carefully check them for compliance with regulatory documents.

In the laboratory, the physical and chemical parameters of the raw materials and finished products are determined.

“In oil, we determine moisture and volatiles, acid and peroxide numbers, phosphorus-containing substances and non-fatty impurities. These are the indicators that are included in the quality certificates (‘manufacturer’s declaration’) for each vehicle,” says Irina Moskalenko, head of the ZOEP testing laboratory.

Quality control is carried out by laboratory specialists in accordance with the company’s approved control schemes.

The testing laboratory is equipped with modern machinery, helping to significantly reduce the analysis time.

Zaporizhzhya Oil Extraction Plant’s testing laboratory was accredited by UNBA in 2018. This accreditation certificate confirms the technical competence of the laboratory to test raw materials and finished products and means that third-party organizations can be tested under the scope of the laboratory accreditation.

Once each year, testing methods are validated and equipment is calibrated by an accredited organization. Standard and reference samples are used to check the operation of equipment and to verify the method used.

Specifically, Agilent gas chromatographs are used to determine the fatty acid composition of vegetable oil and oilseeds, and the residual hexane content in oil and meal. Significant expansion of the scope of accreditation is planned.

The safety of the finished products is also approved by certifying company SGS-Ukraine since 2009, following an audit of the ‘Food Safety Management System’, which was developed in accordance with the requirements of the international standard ISO 22000: 2005. Starting from 2016 SGS-Ukraine conducts audits for compliance with the requirements of the international standard GMP + B2 ‘production feed ingredients’, which demonstrates compliance with all conditions to ensure the safety of feed ingredients, compliance with relevant legal regulations and all industry, statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements. 

Power supply

Zaporizhzhya Oil Extraction Plant is successful in increasing the energy efficiency of production processes and optimizing the use of energy resources.

As such, a new CHP was put into operation in 2015, with a capacity of 50 tons of steam per hour, operating on sunflower husks. To provide the production with its own electricity, a steam turbine from the world’s leading turbine manufacturer Howden, with a capacity of 4.2 MW, was installed.

In 2018, in order to increase service intervals and obtain stable steam production, a CHP modernization project was implemented: Clide Bergemann blowers were installed on two boilers.

Since 2019, ZOEP has been able to completely abandon the use of natural gas, thanks a EUR 519,000 project that saw the modernisation of its Rafako OL-20 gas-husk boiler, allowing natural gas to be replaced with sunflower husk, with the possibility of adding up to 15% sunflower seed litter, with a further EUR500,000 invested in the turbine. 

All boilers at Zaporizhzhya Oil Extraction Plant  are equipped with electrostatic precipitators, which do not allow excess emissions into the atmosphere. 

Next year, a project is planned to implement a large-scale energy audit across the plant to identify new ways of optimising energy costs and to determine solutions to further increase its energy independence. 

Further development plans

According to Anatoly Martynov, owner of Optimus Agro, the company will continue investing in the development of the ZOEP infrastructure. Upcoming plans include a complete transition to electricity self-sufficiency (currently, depending on the season, standing at 20% to 38%); modernisation of the old oil extraction plant, with the possibility of increasing processing from 880 tons of sunflower per day to 1200 tons; plus an increase in the capacity of one-time storage of raw materials by 60 thousand tons.

After spending several days at the plant, we were convinced that the process of sunflower oil production requires extensive organisation, expertise and responsibility – the Zaporizhzhya Oil Extraction Plant team certainly has all these qualities.

The company’s products are in great demand both in Ukraine and abroad. In August 2019, OptimusAgro Trade LLC received a certificate of compliance with ISCC EU standards (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification is a voluntary certification program for manufacturers and suppliers, created on the basis of the European Directive on Renewable Energy Sources). The certificate of this standard is recognised by all countries of the world. In December 2019, OptimusAgro Trade LLC was certified according to the new version of the ISO 22000: 2018 standard, and in January 2020, the company received certificates of compliance with international standards GMP + B2 “Production of feed ingredients” and GMP + B3 “Vending, collection, storage and shipment”.

Elena Burkatovskaya, General Manager of OptimusAgro Trade, talks about the company’s achievements and plans.

– Elena, you have been working for Optimus Agro Trade since it was founded in 1997. From 2012, you have been appointed as  General Manager. Looking back, what are the main success and overcoming difficulties that you are proud of most?

– In 1997, as a very young specialist, I was invited to work in the financial department by the owner of the company, Anatoly Martynov. Thanks to the growth opportunities within the company, in 2012 I became General Director /Manager.

The main activities of the company: acceptance, storage and shipment of agricultural products; sunflower seed processing; sale of grain crops, sunflower oil, meal and other processed products.

Over the years, the company has increased the capacity of single storage to 1.1 million tons, increased the processing capacity to 900 thousand tons of sunflower per year, and actively sells agricultural products to many countries of the world.

One of the difficult tasks for me was to create an effective professional team capable of achieving the stated goals. Today “OptimusAgro Trade” is included in the TOP-5 producers of unrefined sunflower oil and meal, as well as in the TOP-10 companies in terms of elevator capacities in Ukraine. The company is proud of its long-term mutually-beneficial relationships with its partners – agricultural producers and product buyers.

How efficiently did you manage to reboot the enterprises of “OptimusAgro Trade” during the lock-down period? What has been done to keep workers safe?

– We quickly adapted to the remote operating mode. In particular, when employees started to work from home, there were no interruptions at all. There were strict protective measures organised to prevent spreading of infection. At a General Managers meeting, we discussed and set up an action plan, appointed responsible persons and established control over the implementation of all tasks.

During the lock-down period, we organised transportation of our employees using the company’s own transport excluding public transport, monitored temperature, provided with sanitising and disinfection, and promoted partial remote work for office staff. Currently I believe that these security measures were sufficient, and we will continue to stick to these protocols for the near future.

– What are the company’s production results in the previous and current marketing year? Can we count on maintaining positive dynamics?

– In MY 2018/19, we increased our own sunflower seed processing rate by 11% compared to the previous season. In the current marketing year, there is an increase in processing rates too, owing to a good harvest of sunflower, so the company plans to complete it in a positive manner.

– How are things going with the implementation of foreign trade contracts? And what are the general achievements of the company in external/international markets? – “OptimusAgro Trade” is an export-oriented company, the export share ranges from 80 to 95% in the total sales of products depending on the year, conditions, market conditions. The main products we export are unrefined sunflower oil, granular / non-granular sunflower meal, and granulated husk. We ship unrefined sunflower oil in bulk mainly to Asian countries, we also work with China and the UAE. We sell sunflower meal to Poland, Belarus, Spain, France, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Morocco. The company is constantly working to expand its sales geography.

In the current season, thanks to new opportunities for meal’s export shipments directly from Zaporizhzhya river port to Turkish and Greek customers, we made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of delivery of products to the end customer, without any costs for accumulation and storage. Loading of containers directly at the plant with the subsequent dispatch of the ‘customs-cleared’ container by road or rail to the port can rightfully be considered a promising direction for shipment of meal in the current season.

– Despite all the challenges that have arisen this year, we’d like to ask about future plans. What goals do you set for yourself and the company for the next five years?

– Main goals: maintaining a leading position in the industry, generating its own electricity at the Zaporizhzhya oil extraction plant, multi-processing of soybeans and rapeseed, building additional storage tanks for agricultural products with 60 thousand tons capacity, increasing sales of petroleum products to agricultural producers and actively developing grain trading. Our company’s name “Optimus Agro” obliges us to look to the future with optimism.

Author of the article: www.dsnews.ua

On June 19, the authorized capital of Optimusagro Trade LLC was increased to USD 10 million.

This should increase the Company’s rating as a borrower among financial institutions and banks.

Nikopol Separate Structural Subdivision of OptimusAgro Trade LLC in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast has become an itinerary paternoster, as reported by Dmytro Bosyi, the Technical Director of Nikopol Separate Structural Subdivision.

“Our company has made a serious effort to obtain the routing of the Nikopol paternoster; now the company can load 52 cars in 36 hours (less than two full days). In addition, the paternoster can simultaneously carry out operations such as grain acceptance and loading into cars. The peculiarity of our paternoster becoming an itinerary one is its competitiveness. Today, both manufacturers and traders are interested in using routes in their work due to guarantees of timely delivery. We invite all producers and traders to cooperate with our company.”

😷The quarantine has caught all of us off-guard. Both companies and individual businesses are adapting to new circumstances. It is very important for everyone to understand what is happening with the partners with which your business has relationships.
Olena Burkatovska, the CEO of OptimusAgro, told us about the efforts implemented by our group enterprises to cope with the crisis and the coronavirus during the imposed quarantine in an interview with Elevatorist.com:
“Our company provides raw materials for food and feed producers, so it is important for us to ensure a high-quality, safe, and continuous operation of all our structural subdivisions.
“While striving to create safe working conditions for the employees of all our subdivisions, we have faced a number of difficulties when purchasing antiseptic means for hands and rooms, medical face masks, and contactless thermometers. It was not easy to provide everything necessary to our 2,000 employees in the 6 oblasts of the central and southern regions of the presence of our company in Ukraine. At the same time, all the precautions had to be followed; and we buy everything we need every day.”
To read the complete interview, click on the following link: https://elevatorist.com/…/80-elena-burkatovskaya-v-period-k…

At present, OptimusAgroTrade LLC supplies grain, oil, and processed products by road and railway transport in Ukraine on a regular basis despite restrictions on certain types of transportation adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

As reported by our press service, our company supports restrictive and anti-epidemic measures aimed at protecting the safety and health of our employees.

At the same time, many companies report difficulties accepting unrefined sunflower oil in the Ukrainian seaports, which is explained by the large balances of this product at the terminals (in excess of 500 thousand tons).

In addition, large oil balances at terminals are associated with restrictions on the movement of vessels to China and Asia, as well as due to the quarantine in Ukrainian ports.

It should be noted that there are no difficulties at present with the internal transportation of cargoes of sunflower meal, nor with shipments to EU countries. However, delays of several hours may occur at the border, as the checkpoints are closed or restricted by a lengthy customs control procedure.

At the same time, a more serious problem for agribusiness is the significant fluctuation of the U.S. dollar against the hryvnia.

On March 3 and 4, the top management of our company was involved in a strategic session.
Our team is a very powerful resource for ideas. While it may be difficult to judge according to certain criteria, each idea generated during this session will have a certain impact on the future of our company as a whole.
We worked very hard and discussed a number of important issues. And now we only need to gather additional analytics and some calculations for our final strategy for 2020-2025 to be compiled.

According to the results of 2019, OptimusAgro Trade ranked 8th and was in the Top-10 largest paternoster companies in Ukraine in terms of capacity at 863 thousand tons of total storage capacity of agricultural products, as reported by Latifundist.com.

The Top-10 companies include:

1. State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine: 3.61 million tons;
2. Kernel: 2.73 million tons;
3. Ukrlandfarming: 2.66 million tons;
4. NIBULON: 1.97 million tons;
5. Prometey: 1.2 million tons;
6. The State Reserve Agency of Ukraine: 1.19 million tons;
7. MHP: 1.1 million tons;
8. “OptimusAgro Trade”: 863,000 tons;
9. “Agro Epicenter”: 823,000 tons;
10. TESSLAGROUP: 820 thousand tons.

To read more, click the following link:

https://latifundist.com/…/48867-nazvany-top-10-kompanij-ukr…

The “low-power station” status will result in the closing down of adjacent paternosters, as reported by Roman Suzak, the Director of the Department of Commodity Flows of OptimusAgro Trade LLC during the 4^th International Conference “Railways of Ukraine: Development and Investments.”

Mr. Suzak cited, in particular, examples of the negative effects of the passage through stations after they receive the “low-power” status. This leads to a significant increase in logistics costs, the replacement of railway transport with motor transport, which results in an additional load on the motorways and adversely affects the condition of the roads; the reduction of the number of paternosters and stations and, as a consequence, the social tension in the region and the lack of payment to local budgets; untimely export of agricultural products; the loss of paternosters and their closure; and the closure of storage tracks at stations and their plundering.

Mr. Suzak has also suggested ways to address this problem:

• “low-activity” stations must be opened for work on general terms, which will allow to reduce the costs of supply and cleaning of cars;
• a moratorium on the closure of railway stations for freight operations must be introduced until an objective analysis of their activities;
• the procedure for documentation and reconciliation of documents when upgrading equipment and track development of paternosters must be simplified in order to increase the volume of product shipment.

In January 2020, our company received certificates confirming our compliance with requirements of GMP + B2 “Production of Feed Ingredients” and GMP + B3 “Trade, Collection, and Storage & Transshipment” international standards. The certification audit was carried out by auditors of SGS Ukraine.

The GMP+ certification covers an entire cycle from primary production of the sunflower extraction cake to the delivery of compound animal feedstuff to animal farms (uniform principles for the entire industry) and confirms the high level of control of the quality of raw materials and ready products at OptimusAgro Trade LLC. The result of the certification was the receipt of access to a single information database of market participants and holders of GMP+ certificates by the Company.

It should be noted that our company developed and implemented an integrated system of quality and safety management of food and feed in 2017 in accordance with the requirements of ISO 22000 and GMP + international standards.

Dear friends, colleagues, and partners,

We at OptimusAgro Trade would like to extend our congratulations on Christmas and New Year.
Thank you for our long-term partnership relations and the trust you have placed in our company. We would also like to wish that the new year brings your good news, happy events, and reliable partners and colleagues.

In December, construction of silos with a total volume of 10 thousand tons was completed at the production department of OptimusAgro Trade’s Zaporizhzhia Oil Extraction Plant.

After commissioning of the grain warehouse, the total volume of one-time storage of sunflower seeds at the plant will amount to 30 thousand tons.

Industrialstroy LLC, which is a partner of our company, has successfully completed the construction: the installation of foundations for the construction of new facilities and the installation of metal structures of grain warehouses and crossway connections. The equipment of Variant Agro Stroy LLC (Ukraine) is installed.

We are glad to inform you that our company was among the first companies in Ukraine to become certified under revised ISO 22000:2018 standard at the end of 2019.

The above standard uses a procedural approach together with Plan-Do-Check-Act and risk-oriented attitude and supports the adoption of a procedural approach in the course of development, implementation, updating, and increasing the performance characteristics.

A risk-oriented attitude allows an organization to identify the factors that can cause food safety management processes and systems to deviate from their intended outcomes, as well as to engage management measures aimed at preventing or minimizing possible side effects.

We are very grateful to Helix LLC and individually to Volodymyr Oleksiyovych Kudria for their assistance in the development and implementation of food safety management systems in our enterprises in accordance with the ISO 22000:2018 standard.

Certification audit under the revised ISO 22000:2018 standard was carried out by auditors of SGS Ukraine.

We at OptimusAgro Trade are part of a single big and friendly team and strive to do our utmost to ensure that our customers are fully satisfied and that we fulfill our mission.

On December 19, OptimusAgro Trade congratulated the wards of Nikopol Medical Specialized Center for Medical and Social Rehabilitation of Children on St. Nicholas Day. The children with impaired mobility were unparalleled in their roles of fairy-tale characters as part of The Snow Queen performance.

After the celebration, 70 children received sweet gifts from OptimusAgro Trade, and we were recharged with emotions and high spirits from the children.

These incredible children will always remain in our hearts.

On November 26 and 27, the Top Management of our Company was involved in the strategic session.
Our team is a very powerful resource for ideas. It may be difficult to judge by certain criteria, but each idea generated during that session would have some impact on the future of our Company as a whole.
We worked very hard and had some discussions. The only thing we need is to gather additional analytics and some calculations and our final strategy for 2020 – 2025 will be formed.

On November 12, a firefighting training was held at the OptimusAgro Trade headquarters on “Actions of senior staff and personnel in the event of a fire and the evacuation of people, documents and property”.

Our employees have received both theoretical and practical skills. Initially, employees of Dnipro City Administration of GU DSNS (The Chief Directorate of the State Emergency Service) of Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk Region lead a discussion how to behave in the event of a fire, how to navigate and respond quickly in various extreme situations.

After that, a practical training was conducted on the use of primary fire extinguishers. Employees were able to test their theoretical knowledge in practice and to extinguish “the fire” using their fire extinguisher.

Today our team visited the key event of the oil sector of Ukraine and the countries of the Black Sea Region – The 18^th International Conference “Oil and Fat Industry-2019”, which united the leaders of the oil and fat industry of Ukraine, the world’s largest producers and importers of oil and refining products to discuss new and current trends on the market.

During the Conference, the traders of our Company led by the Management received the most up-to-date and professional information on the perspective innovative solutions in the conditions of fierce competition on the oil market of the country as well as got acquainted and strengthened the cooperation with new Ukrainian and international companies.

Cancellation of VAT refunds on soybeans and rapeseed exports from Ukraine may lead to the development of the processing industry of these crops in the long term as happened to the sunflower processing upon the export duty introduction. This was said in an interview with APK-Inform by the First Deputy Director of OptimusAgro Trade Ihor Bazylievych.

“From a farmer’s point of view it is bad, from a processor’s and the state’s point of view (the increase in added value during processing, more taxes and jobs) is good”, the expert said.

In his opinion, it would be ideal to set up agricultural cooperatives through the example of French Saipola (a cooperative in France, a part of the Avril Group), so that the farmer does not lose its profit and the added value remains in the state. Read more about I. Bazylievych’s vision of the situation on the oil market both in Ukraine and in the world in an interview “The Global Demand for Vegetable Oils Should Rise in 2019/20 Season More Than the Production – Ihor Bazylievych”.

“In our country, all enterprises are often affected by the complexity of doing business. Problems with the quality of raw materials supplied, the logistics, the rolling stock, and sharp currency fluctuations…. These are but some of the difficult –  and sometimes critical – situations that not only our business in Ukraine has to deal with,” Olena Burkatovska, the CEO of OptimusAgro Trade LLC, explained her position in an exclusive interview to Delo.ua.

“For example, one of the most recent terms that have come into use is ‘low-load stations.’ This terms means stations with a load capacity of no more than three cars. Incorporating this term into the current legislation will have major consequences. Recognition of a station as a low-active one entails additional fees from the railway as well as the distribution of rolling stock on a residual basis; this results in the fact that enterprises located in the immediate vicinity of such low-active stations will have to shut down or incur significant financial costs. This will in turn result in larger unemployment numbers. In such situations, we come together and look into the most efficient solutions. The support, professionalism, and competence of our team leads to the solution of sometimes very difficult tasks. For the last few years, we have been paying a lot of attention to the development of our personnel by conducting trainings, briefings, and team-building events, which positively affects the effectiveness of teamwork at our company.”

More details about the aligned work of our team, the restructuring of the business model, and the crisis management at OptimusAgro Trade can be found here.

At the beginning of October, Kachkarovka celebrated the Village Day. The Kachkarivka paternoster crew congratulated the villagers on the long-awaited holiday and wished them health, success in their work, generous harvests, and peace and tranquility in their homes.
During the celebration, a three-meter-long artificial Christmas tree was presented to the community center of the village to bring joy to adults and children and to preserve the comfort of the community and the lives of the living trees surrounding the village.
The personnel of the paternoster wowed the celebration guests with a bright “Rainbow Color Show,” during which the sky was painted with colored smoke to a stormy applause.
At the end of the village day celebration, children launched 30 kites, which were then handed out, into the sky.
We would like to thank the members of the Kachkarivka paternoster personnel for their initiative and participation in organizing this terrific holiday.

We are glad to inform you that Optimusagro Trade LLC has received ISCC EU Certificate (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification), which is a voluntary certification programme of manufacturers and suppliers established on the basis of the European Renewable Energy Directive. The certificate of this standard is recognized by all the countries of the world. Availability of the Certificate at the Company means that production has high environmental standards; it controls greenhouse gas emissions. The established Company policy highlights the commitment to sustainable development according to the ISCC principles that apply to the enterprise as a member of the society. In addition, the auditors of the Control Union certification body assess, according to the ISCC EU standard, the transparency of purchase and movement of goods and services across the chain from the producer to the consumer, compliance with the national and international standards of environmental protection, labour protection Thanks to the Compliance Certificate obtained, the Company will be able to trade rapeseed according to the ISCC standards.

On August 16, the first batch of sunflower seeds of 2019 harvest was received at Chortomlytsia section of Nikopol elevator (Dnipropetrovsk Region),

which quality meets the DSTU requirements.

According to tradition, a team led by the Section Head Oleksandr Makhno gives a hospitable welcome to sunflower seeds of a new crop.

On the 7^th of August, Sirohozy Elevator of Optimusagro Trade Company (Kherson region) started receiving and storage of new crop sunflower. Thus, the total volume of the first batches received amounted to 100 tons of oilseed crop. The sunflower quality indicators met the DSTU requirements.

It is worth noting that the large scale harvesting campaign in the southern region is expected after August 15, 2019.

The last summer month is the time to summarize 2018/19 marketing year (hereinafter referred to as the MY).

At the end of each MY, Optimusagro Trade gathers all the elevator directors for a production meeting. This year’s meeting was held on the 8^th of August in a stylish, new, and what is more, mega-comfortable Soft Work co-working platform for the most successful people in Dnipro.At the beginning of the meeting, the issues of the company brand promotion were discussed, and Victoria Zelena, PR Manager, proposed ideas on employees’ outfit modernization.

Another issue for consideration was proposed by Tetiana Litvinenko, HR Manager, concerning the discussion of successful job closing at enterprises and retention of employees.

The keynote report in the first session was the speech of Anna Pozhidaieva, Personnel and Organizational Development Director, who told the elevator directors about budgeting for financial needs to cover staff costs for the next year, 2020.

In the second session, Maxim Konopatenko, Operations Department Director, Andrii Kolomoiets, Operations Department Deputy Director, and Olga Zhygan, Quality Department Director, summarized the work of elevators for 2018/19 MY.The key issues on the agenda were the quality of new crop cereals, the shipment of agricultural crops by rail and the settlement of elevators operation at ineffective stations, the procurement process for cereals and oilseeds, and plans for 2019/20 MY.

Many thanks to all those present – we had a high-performance time!

Looking forward to next meetings!

OptimusAgro Trade has been attentive to the needs of children with disabilities and, particularly, cares about creating comfortable conditions for them to study, educate, and socialize.

We have recently purchased a Leiter-3 test kit, as well as a Gazelle front and rear standing frame, for the wards of Nikopol Medical Specialized Center for Medical and Social Rehabilitation of Children (Dnipropetrovsk Region, Ukraine).

Also, the occupational therapy room at Nikopol Medical Specialized Center for Medical and Social Rehabilitation of Children has undergone cosmetic repair.

Our company sincerely supports and assists children with special needs who feel tired after long and difficult treatment.

Comment by Iryna Khmelevska, the Director of Nikopol Medical Specialized Center for Medical and Social Rehabilitation of Children of Dnipropetrovsk Regional Council:

“It is difficult to overestimate the value of assistance we have received from OptimusAgro Trade and the enormous contribution the company makes to supporting and rehabilitating children with special needs.

“The World Health Organization states that rehabilitation is an investment in the human capital and contributes to the improvement of human health and economic and social development. For children, in particular, rehabilitation activities optimize their development with far-reaching consequences and allow them to participate in education, community service, and work in the future. The help that OptimusAgro Trade shows our children enables them to achieve and maintain an optimal level of functioning and gives them hope for recovery, where this is possible, and a chance for successful integration into society.

“Individual work with a child with special needs firstly requires a diagnosis of the level of cognitive functioning and intellectual development. Most diagnostic tools are designed based on a child’s speech interaction; but what can be done if a child does not talk for various reasons? The absence of speech does not mean a decline in the child’s intellectual development. In this case, Leiter-3, a non-verbal intelligence and cognitive abilities test, is used; and no speech skills are required to perform and understand tasks.

“The Gazelle standing frame is a rare and high-cost piece of equipment that enables the rehabilitation of children with hip joint subluxation caused by infantile cerebral palsy and, as a result, helps to avoid surgical intervention caused by complete hip dislocation.

“Occupational therapy is a therapeutic branch that pays attention to daily activities that are the basis of independent living. An occupational therapist teaches children with motor or cognitive disabilities both the ways to perform the necessary activities in their everyday life and self-care skills (such as eating, holding a spoon or a cup, chewing, dressing, and playing). These classes were conducted in premises that had not seen repairs for many years. Now, after the repairs are done, we have a bright, light and tidy room with a flat floor, which is very important for the movement of children with movement disorders.

The staff of Nikopol Medical Specialized Center for Medical and Social Rehabilitation of Children express their sincere and unlimited gratitude to OptimusAgro Trade and its management for supporting, assisting, and giving the opportunity to provide modern rehabilitation assistance to children. People with such a big heart and level of social responsibility are a real treasure!”

Together we can make the world a better place!

On July 10 in Kyiv, during the “Business against the State Destruction. Problem Analysis. Action Plan” Forum within the framework of the “Public Audit of the Government” Initiative, Director of Commodity Flows of “Optimusagro Trade” Roman Suzak proposed Ukrzaliznytsia an action plan for “ineffective stations”.

There are currently 300 railroad stations in Ukraine that are listed as “ineffective”. 7 elevators of our Company (25% of the total number of our elevators), which stations are considered “ineffective” – also fell into that list.

This leads to negative consequences, namely to:

• a significant increase in logistics costs;
• the transition from rail to road transport and, as a result, an additional load on the roads, which negatively affects the state of roads;
• a reduction in the staff of elevators and stations and, as a result, a large number of unemployed;
• untimely export of agricultural products;
• unprofitability of elevators and their closing;
• farmers will have to look for other, more distant, stations and spend more on logistics. As a result, an increase in costs will lead to an increase in the cost price of agricultural crops;
• closing of receiving-and-departure tracks at the stations and their theft;
• decrease of profitability of Ukrzaliznytsia.

How it will affect the state budget:

• loss of tens of millions of Ukrainian hryvnias of taxes from enterprises serviced at these stations;
• additional unemployment benefits;
• additional expenses for repair of highways;
• risks of higher prices of products, which will lead to the need to raise wages of state institutions and pensions and at the expense of the state budget of Ukraine.

The question arises: What is the economic benefit of this project proposed by “Ukrzaliznytsya” as well as what must the Ukrainian agrarian business count on in general?

“In order to avoid these consequences and to save working places, Roman Suzak suggested in his report at the Forum:

• to open stations for work;
• to change the approach to the classification of ineffective railway stations (to stop classification of freight railway stations according to the past years statistics);
• to impose a moratorium on the closure of railway stations for cargo operations until the objective analysis of freight railway stations operation;
• to simplify the registration and approval of documentation for equipment modernization and track-side development of the elevator for the possibility of sending routes;
• to reduce the cost of delivery/cleaning of wagons;
• to oblige JSC UZ to ensure fulfilment of shippers’ applications for the delivery of grain wagons of the general park (TsTL AT UZ park – Centre of Transport Logistics of Joint Stock Company Ukrzaliznytsya) for single wagon load and dispersal routes (possible limit setting for provision of shipments data);
• UZ, together with owners of elevators, shall develop a schedule of guaranteed delivery and cleaning of wagons at sites.

On June 14, 2019, Nikopol Elevator of Optimusargo Trade, LLC successfully passed the certification for compliance with the requirements of the Protocol on Phytosanitary and Inspection Requirements as for the Export of Barley from Ukraine to the People’s Republic of China.

“The certification will allow the Company to expand the range of importers, open new markets for barley sell, while guaranteeing the highest quality of grain, which is supported by a favourable price situation for barley in China. It will also enable commodity producers to get higher prices for barley when exported to the PRC from exporters than in other trading areas”, said Dmitry Bosyi, Director of Nikopol Elevator.

In the near future, all the elevators of our Company are planning to obtain the relevant certificates for exporting of barley, corn and soybeans to China.

Last week Yakymivskyi, Sirohozkyi, Nikopolskyi and Kachkarevskyi Elevators of Optimusagro Trade started accepting and harvesting the first batches of early cereals of the new harvest – winter wheat, barley and rape seeds. The quality indicators of grain received by the Elevators complied with the requirements of the State Standard of Ukraine (DSTU).

It is worth noting that a mass harvesting campaign in the southern region is expected after June 20, 2019. According to the Department of Agro-Industrial Development of Kherson, as of June 18, it has already been harvested 5.5 thousand hectares of barley with an average yield of 36 centner/hectare at the farms of the region. Harvesting of winter wheat and rape is next. In total, 677 thousand hectares of early grain are to be harvested in the region.

On June 4, Kachkarivsky Elevator (Kherson Oblast) Team organised an excursion tour for the children from Kachkarivsky School Camp. The Director of the Unit, Irina Pidborska, together with her colleagues, introduced the schoolchildren with the main specialties and production processes. Even the wheat quality analysis was carried out in the elevator laboratory. They also demonstrated the technical equipment of the granaries, laboratories and introduced the personnel and management in the field. At the end of the excursion, the children had a sweet holiday.

We would like to express our gratitude to all the participants of the excursion, as well as to the employees of Optimusargo Trade, LLC who shared interesting and useful information.
Looking forward to new meetings!

Traders Daria Kovalyova and Valerya Brahinets, as well as PR manager Viktoria Zelena (all three are employees of Optimusagro Trade) visited one of “Grain & Maritime Days-2019” international conferences, which took place on May 30-31 on the Black Sea coast at MARISTELLA MARINE RESIDENCE.

The event was frequented 300 representatives of grain and maritime industries from 26 world countries. Trends, innovations, and issues of the grain market of Ukraine, the EU, and the world, as well as the issues of logistic and maritime infrastructure, were discussed at the conference.

We would like to extend our gratitude to the event organizers (IA “APK-Inform” and Interlegal international legal service) for this opportunity to meet our colleagues and to listen to information about agricultural trends for future endeavors.

Dear friends and colleagues:

On May 26, 2019 we had a huge cause for celebration: 22 years ago, our company was founded. Over the years of our successful work, we at OptimusAgro have gone from a small but highly specialized company to one of the most powerful sunflower oil producers in Ukraine. The proof of this is our product, which has a huge consumer demand. We are well known and respected.
We have achieved a lot, and we have something to be proud of. However, our most important asset is our team!
We have proved that we are able to proceed even in the most difficult times and that we are ready to solve the most difficult tasks.
Please accept our most heartfelt congratulations and wishes for all our employees and their friends and relatives to be happy, healthy, and successful both in their personal and professional lives. May all your dreams, projects, and endeavors come true!

We wish OptimusAgro to be fruitful and to reach new heights!

Due to the holding of a certification audit under the new version of the ISO 22000:2018 standard in November 2019, members of the HACCP groups of Optimusargo Trade Company completed trained and received the relevant certificates by an audit company.

“Our company, in particular the Zaporizhzhia Oil Extraction Plant and its headquarters, has been certified by SGS International Audit Company for three years according to ISO 22000 and GMP+ standards.  Completion of certification under the new version of the standard will enable our company to expand the markets of our products and to increase the efficiency of our activities through the sale of safe and high-quality food products to consumers,” said Oleksandr Tkach, the Head of the HACCP Group at OptimusAgro Trade.

The ISO 22000:2018 standard sets requirements for an organization’s management system involved in the food chain production and consumption to demonstrate their ability to control food safety risks and to ensure safety of end products for consumers.

According to the law, developing, implementing, and applying permanent procedures based on the principles of a system of analysis of hazardous factors and control at critical points, as well as ensuring the proper training of the persons responsible for these procedures during production and circulation of food products, is necessary effective 2018.

In this regard, an audit company held a training for paternoster managers of OptimusAgro Trade regarding the implementation of a HACCP-based management system on May 16 at the premises of the Nikopol Production and Structural Unit.

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Points) is a system that identifies, assesses, and controls the hazards that are critical to the safety of food products.

According to the results of the National Business Rating study, Optimusagro Trade was recognized as one of the most successful Ukrainian enterprises in its profile industry, and the prestigious award the “Leader of the Year 2018” became a confirmation of the high status, reliability and efficiency of business operations.

As every significant achievement, this honourable award became possible due to the hard work of our team and managerial qualities of the management, and what is more – due to the embodiment of the idea, which found a response among our customers and partners, because any business is impossible without understanding their circle of consumers and their needs.

Today, Optimusagro Trade ranks among TOP-5 producers of unrefined sunflower oil and oil seed coarse meal, as well as among TOP-10 companies in terms of elevator facilities in Ukraine. Our special feature is that Optimusagro Trade gives every professional the opportunity to enhance their professional and personal competencies through trainings, master classes, internal educational projects and attending international conferences.

For this, we are constantly developing and implementing innovative solutions in the work, in particular, we create favourable conditions for youth work in rural areas, we welcome the initiative, readiness to generate ideas and solve complex business problems, support the desire to study and gain new experience, distribute the latest practices in the teams.

We are proud of the title the “Leader of the Year 2018”, as it is a confirmation of the correctness of the chosen path, evidence of the efficiency of our work and the guarantee of the high quality of services that we provide to the end user. This reward also reflects our standards of honest and transparent business conduct and a significant contribution to the country’s economic development.

For the last 14 years, the National Business Rating Company has rated Ukraine’s enterprises and today is one of the most prestigious ones in the field of business efficiency assessment.

The XVI International Conference “Black Sea Grain – 2019”, a key event of the grain sector of Ukraine and the Black Sea region, took place in Kyiv on April 10-11, 2019. This event, which gathered world agribusiness leaders together to discuss global trends and changes in the agricultural sector, the impact of “trade wars” on the future of world production and export of agricultural products, presented analyses and forecasts of the development of the Black Sea and Ukrainian grain markets.

During the conference, OptimusArgo Trade representatives received the most relevant and professional information about current market trends, recommendations for improving their business strategies in the world, and met and strengthened cooperation with new Ukrainian and international companies.

The Optimusagro Trade Company has been using the BI systems for several years, in particular, the Qlik Sense analytical applications, which have become reliable tools in their daily work. Vasyl Tofel, a financial analyst at the Optimusagro Trade Company, told about that on March 21 at the QLIK FORUM conference on business analytics at the invitation of the RBC Group consulting company (the exclusive representative of QlikTech in Ukraine).

“Over the past 20 years, a business intelligence (BI) direction has emerged in the field of developing corporate software, aimed at solving the problem of operational analysis and visualization of large amounts of data. BI-products are an addition to the already working ERP-systems, expanding their functionality. According to the Gartner Company (the world’s leading IT consulting company), the QlikTech Company has been the leader of the BI segment for many years, offering the QlikView and Qlik Sense programs”, our analyst Vasyl Tofel said.

“The Qlik Sense analytical platform allows you speeding up the process, visualizing the data and simplifying the task of gathering information in different areas of activity. As in modern realities, under the conditions of relentless competition, the timely and reliable information is crucial for making correct operational management decisions, forecasting and processing large amounts of data. All the programs we implement are focused on the financial result, increasing the efficiency and speed of making management decisions that automates the business as a whole”.

The company actively applies digital technologies and is open to innovation, which allows it developing rapidly and facilitating the work of our divisions.

In recent years, the interest of young professionals in vacancies in the agroindustrial complex is rapidly diminishing, which forces employers to seek new ways and means of attracting skilled staff in the agroindustrial industry. A comprehensive approach to solving this problem is impossible without investing in training and staff development, without providing comfortable working conditions and ensuring opportunities for both professional and personal growth for each employee. Anna Pozhidaieva, HR Director of Optimusagro Trade, expressed this opinion of the APK-Inform, IA.

“Development programs of Optimusagro Trade enable each expert to increase its professional and personal competencies through trainings, master classes, internal educational projects, attending international conferences. As there are over 25 elevators in the structure of our Company, we create favourable working conditions for youth in the countryside. We welcome the initiative, the willingness to generate ideas and solve complex business problems, support the desire to learn and acquire new experience, and distribute the latest practices in the teams’, the expert said.

The Company also collaborates with educational institutions to search and hire talented young professionals and realize their labour potential.

“We are working to create an internal university that will allow each employee approving oneself as a teacher/student. This project will focus on the development and acquisition of diverse skills, as well as the acquisition of useful information. One of the first areas – “Colloquial English Speaking Club” – will be headed by our HR manager”, A. Pozhidaieva added.

In the first six months of MY 2018/19, OptimusAgro Trade LLC increased its unrefined sunflower oil production by 6%, as reported by the press service of the company.

Such an increase in the production volume is primarily due to the improvement of the quality of processed sunflower seeds and to the high demand on behalf of the key importers in the current season.

For example, the production of unrefined sunflower oil by OptimusAgro Trade LLC amounted to 190 thous. tons in September-February of MY 2018/19, which exceeds the corresponding indicator for MY 2017/18 by 6%.

It should be mentioned that in the above period sunflower oil produced by OptimusAgro Trade LLC was exported to Egypt, India, China, Qatar, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Turkey, France, the UAE, and Algeria.

In September-February of MY 2018/19, sunflower meal produced by our company was exported to Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, South Korea, Italy, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, France, Spain, Turkey, Morocco, Poland, and Belarus.

On February 22, 2019, Mr. Ghotu Ram Meena, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the Republic of India in Ukraine, who was in the Zaporizhzhia region as part of a business call, paid a visit to OptimusAgro Trade’s Zaporizhzhia Oil Extraction Plant.

The visit’s objective was maintenance of commercial foreign economic relations between the Republic of India and Ukraine (in particular, the purchase of unrefined sunflower oil). The esteemed guest was also given a tour to the production facilities of the enterprise, during which he was able to see for himself and to confirm the high quality of products made by Zaporizhzhia Oil Extraction Plant, which have ISO 22000:2005, GMP+B2, and GMP+B3 quality certificates.

Zaporizhzhia Oil Extraction Plant, which is part of the OptimusAgro Trade LLC group, is a modern enterprise with a full-cycle processing of raw materials that specializes in the production of unrefined sunflower oil and both granulated and non-granulated sunflower extraction cake and shucks. The enterprise’s placement in a region famous for high volumes of production of sunflower seeds allows it to create a high-capacity source of raw materials, which ensures its non-stop operation for the entire season. Available processing capacity for sunflower seeds is 2,800 tons per day.

From February 2019, “OPTIMUS AGRO” opens a new direction – diesel fuel DP-Z-Euro5-B0 supply, quality according to DSTU 7688: 2015, manufactured by Kremenchug oil refinery, for the needs of agricultural producers.

The direction is aimed for providing domestic agricultural producers with fuel for the period of sowing and harvesting companies.
Suppling is planned as a selling and as exchange for agricultural products day-to-day and also on sale terms for the purchase of a future sunflower crop.
We look forward to mutually beneficial cooperation with partners of “OPTIMUS AGRO”.

OPTIMUSAGRO TRADE Limited Liability Company has been developing and self-improving on a permanent basis. The Company Policy consists in and declares the mission of OPTIMUSAGRO TRADE Limited Liability Company, which lies in the dynamic increase in the volumes of production, the provision of the maximum satisfaction of buyers’ needs, the increase in the volume of activity at the expense of implementation of needs for safe and high-quality foodstuffs and feeds, as well as the receipt of an income sufficient for making contributions to the development of OPTIMUSAGRO TRADE Limited Liability Company.

In this connection, the company developed and implemented certification of a system of management and safety of foodstuffs and feeds in complete accordance with applicable requirements of international standards ISO 22000:2005, GMP+B2 “Production of Feed Ingredients” and GMP+B3 “Vending, Collection, Storage, and Shipment.”

The ISO 22000:2005 standard brings together a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (НАССР) and practical steps developed within the scope of the Code of the Foodstuff Committee. This was implemented through the use of verification requirements. This analysis brings together a provisional condition creation program and the НАССР plan. The hazard analysis is the key to an effective foodstuff safety management system, since its implementation helps to systematize the knowledge needed to create an effective combination of control measures.

The GMP+ certification covers an entire cycle from primary production of the sunflower extraction cake to the delivery of compound animal feedstuff to animal farms (uniform principles for the entire industry). General ISO / НАССР requirements have been adapted to specific processes that are characteristic of foodstuff production.

We have integrated a range of controlling and corrective instruments into a single chart of tracing the production of foodstuff ingredients and monitoring systems. The result of the certification was the receipt of access to a single information database of market participants and holders of GMP+ certificates by the Company.

For the period from May 11 to November 9, 2018, an annual supervisory audit was carried out at the central office of OPTIMUSAGRO TRADE Limited Liability Company and at SS ZMEZ, which was carried out by SGS Ukraine, an international audit firm. The implemented audit detected no critical non-conformities. The auditor noticed significant improvements in the infrastructure at SS ZMEZ as compared to last year.

Positive results of the audit were made possible thanks to the leadership of OPTIMUSAGRO TRADE Limited Liability Company, which committed itself to ensure high-quality compliance with the current legislative requirements and requirements of the internal documentation of the management system regarding the quality, safety, and legality of foodstuff and feed while providing for the fulfillment of consumer requirements for products being produced and constantly improving the system of management of quality and safety of foodstuff and feed.

In addition, it is worth noting every employee of OPTIMUSAGRO TRADE Limited Liability Company involved in the entire chain of production who realizes that he or she is responsible for the high quality and safety in his or her field of activity and therefore properly fulfills all applicable requirements for the safety of foodstuff and feed.

We at OPTIMUSAGRO TRADE Limited Liability Company are a big and friendly team and intend to do our best to ensure complete satisfaction of consumers and to complete our mission.

Together with the Head of Software Development Department of the Company O. V. Yakymov, the Chief Financial Officer of the Company O. A. Demydov took part in the specialized AGROIT FORUM 2018, which was held in the City of Kyiv on October 29, 2018.

During the forum, participants collected information on the latest trends in the organization of automated management accounting in the agrarian sector, adopt the best practices of leading companies (in particular, Kernel, Myronivsky Hliboproduct etc.) in the field of automation of accounting processes and analysis of economic information, and learned about typical errors and shortcomings in the course of automation and implementation of software products.

On September 5, 2018 Kachkarivsky Production and Structural Subdivision completed the 10th milestone shipment of grain products in the current MY 2018-2019 and the 86th shipment since the paternoster began operation as part of the OPTIMUS Group.
Why would we want to share this event, which seemingly concerns this paternoster only?

Kachkarivsky Production and Structural Subdivision is a water paternoster located in one of the most picturesque places in Ukraine, namely in Karachivka Village in the Berislavsky district of the Kherson region over the Dnipro flow. The paternoster was founded in the 19th century and has played an important role of a water terminal not only as a grain base for grain transport but also as a mooring for ships. It has passed the way from the Kachkarkivka Dock (a paternoster with a capacity of 500 thousand puds) in 1913–15 to a modern grain warehouse with a storage capacity of 19.3 thousand tons of grain.
The person responsible for the supervision of the operation of this Production and Structural Subdivision for two years was Iryna Oleksandrivna Podborska, whose management style has allowed the Kachkarivsky Production and Structural Subdivision team to exceed the plans for grain cargo turnover.

Ms. Podborska has kindly agreed to share some nuances and specifics of the operation of a “water” grain paternoster with us:
“From the very beginning of the development of human civilization, trade was carried out by waterways. This is especially true for our state, because Ukraine is a water state. The development of grain transportation by water is a great prospect for Ukrainian businesses now, since such transportation does not require roads to be present.
“Shipment by water has its undoubted advantages. Water transportation is cheaper than that by motor vehicles or railways because of various restrictions on the transportation of products transported by weight in case of road transportation and of constant increases in the transportation tariffs by the main monopolist of the country PJSC “Ukrzaliznytsya” for railroad transportation. Time saving is also a factor because grain can be loaded directly into grain trucks with subsequent transportation of the vehicles to the ports of the buyer of the goods.
“The main problem of any water paternoster is the sanding of the bottom of the port, which creates problems for mooring barges and grain carriers; that is why regular deepening of the bottom at the pier is a necessity.”
To wrap up our story, we would like to wish Ms. Podborska and the whole team of the Kachkarivsky Production and Structural Subdivision further work achievements and inspiration!

Personnel development is an important pre-requisite for the success of any organization; that is why OPTIMUS AGRO pays considerable attention to the level of professionalism of its personnel members. Since April 2017, OPTIMUS AGRO employees have undergone advanced training at the Dnipro Agricultural University.

The workshops were attended by technicians and laboratory chiefs. Since March 12, 2018, advanced training courses began for the following employees:

• leading engineers
• leading power engineers
• senior foremen
• technicians, technologists,
• laboratory chiefs,
• leading mechanics.

The curriculum of these training workshops involves the acquisition of both theoretical knowledge and practical skills.

In the course of training, workshop participants had an opportunity to get acquainted with the following subjects:

• the characteristics of the paternoster as an engineering and technical facility and its engineering infrastructure;
• the organization of labor protection when working at paternosters;
• rules, organization, and implementation of the technological process at paternosters and grain-collecting stations;
• prospects of modernization and improvement of technological lines, equipment, and engineering infrastructure of a paternoster;
• peculiarities of the operation of transport systems, as well as systems of loading and unloading of metal silos grain containers;
• grain drying by means of quality assessment;
• the determination of physical and chemical parameters by means of physical and thermophysical properties of grain mass.

In order to receive the widest, new information specifically for our company, the teachers of the department have developed multimedia presentations, in which the materials related to paternosters were presented in high detail. But what training can go without an evaluation? Our employees even had final certification and pass-fail exams! All the workshop participants received a state certificate.

Communication between the scientists and the producers was also useful for the teachers, who had the opportunity to participate in disputes, to touch the practical experience and complex production tasks, and to impose their scientific vision on our present.  The course attendees had the opportunity to receive individual consultations on issues under consideration and to resolve production cases.

On May 26, the Company celebrated its twentieth anniversary! In the course of the years of successful work “Optimus Agro” made the way from small highly specialized company to one of the most powerful producers of sunflower oil in Ukraine.

The business success depended on lots of factors but it is based on tactful management, professional team, daily hard work, reliable partners and of course, regular and new customers!

We hope that the next 20 years of company’s business will be more successful and efficient. Growth, prosperity and new width, the Company “Optimus Agro”!

From September 01, 2016 Optimus Agro group leases PJSC “Zaporozhien Oil Extraction Plant” to  improve the operational processing of sunflower seeds, for better control of accepted raw materials, for yield and quality of the finished product.