NYSE Money Sense

A new online experience at NYSE Money Sense offers information and guidance about responsible finance. Brought to you by NYSE Euronext’s Financial Literacy Advisory Committee, NYSE Money Sense content is free for consumers, and listed companies are encouraged to distribute it to their employees.

Grain in Ukraine

Courtesy AgroGeneration

Print E-mail |

For Charles Vilgrain, CEO of Paris-based AgroGeneration (NYSE Euronext: ALAGR), the soil of Ukraine was an irresistible opportunity. “It’s the best soil in the world to do agriculture,” says Vilgrain, “but it has suffered from a lack of investment for the past 15 years. There’s lots of opportunity to be seized to do agriculture there on a large scale.”

AgroGeneration, a producer of agricultural commodities, says it is 
positioning itself to meet predicted increased demand for grains with increased supply. The company says that by renting, as opposed to purchasing, the 20,000 hectares already in production in Ukraine, it can afford to invest more fully in other production resources. It plans to have 100,000 hectares in production by 2012.

In addition to meeting the growing global demand for grains, AgroGeneration says it is committed to a sustainable approach to agriculture. This involves eco-friendly techniques such as less use of chemicals and fertilizers, as well as a no-till approach to production, which, the company says, increases the moisture in the soil, decreases erosion, cuts energy costs and reduces pollution. The idea, Vilgrain points out, is to maintain profitability without relying on government help. “Our model differs from many others,” he says, “in that we’re depending on the potential of the soil for our profits, not on subsidies.”