Leading Ukrainian agribusiness Nibulon has made an international appeal for the opening of Mykolaiv and Kherson ports to be a key element of any agreement to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Any agreement should not “compromise Ukraine’s sovereignty or freedom of navigation”, the company said in a statement on its website on 28 March.
“There can be no consent to external control, ‘grain monitoring’ by the Russian Federation, or restrictions on Ukraine’s sovereign right to free trade,” said Nibulon, which specialises in grain and oilseed production and export, along with a significant presence in the Mykolaiv region including a shipyard and a fleet of vessels.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 the ports of Mykolaiv and Kherson were used to transport a significant portion of Ukrainian agricultural exports, especially to countries most dependent on Ukrainian grain, the company said.
The blockade of the ports had paralysed maritime trade in southern Ukraine, blocking over 100 ships, including foreign vessels, and prevented recovery in regional areas.
In its appeal to diplomatic missions, international organisations and partners, Nibulon said: “The unblocking of Ukrainian ports should take place on the basis of international law, with guarantees of freedom of trade, respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and without any control from the aggressor.”
With a land bank of over 76,000ha, Nibulon is one of Ukraine’s largest grain and oilseed growers and traders and is active in wheat, corn, barley, sunflower, soyabean, rapeseed and sorghum.
As well as grain and oilseed processing, its activities also include logistics, storage and shipment.
It runs its own fleet, has a total grain storage capacity of 2.25M tonnes and operates a network of 27 trans-shipment terminals and grain and oilseeds complexes in the country.
Founded in 1991 by Oleksiy Vadaturskyy, who was also vice president of the Ukrainian Grain Association, Nibulon produces more than 300,000 tonnes/year of grain and oilseeds, mostly for export to 75 countries, from a planted area of 51,908 ha.
Vadaturskyy turned Nibulon into a major player in the global grain industry but was killed during Russian aerial bombardment of the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, along with his wife Raisa.
In November 2022, Nibulon announced that Andriy Vadaturskyy had succeeded his late father as the company’s CEO.
