Miller Magazine Issue: 129 September 2020

48 NEWS MILLER / September 2020 Nibulon starts the new 2020/21 marketing year with records July 2020 was marked by two records for Nibulon, Ukrainian agricultural company specializing in producti- on and export of grains. Almost 453 thousand tons of cargo were transported by rivers and 387 thousand tons of grain were shipped for export at the external raid of the Mykolayiv seaport without ships in Mykolayiv. These indicators are the highest for the entire period of the com- pany's activity in terms of months. Thus, thanks to the work of the company's fleet, about 19,000 trucks did not leave for Ukrainian highways in just one month. Exactly this amount of grain transported by rivers did not reach Kremenchuk, Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Kherson, Mykolayiv and other settlements of the country. In the first month of the new marketing year, Nibulon transported 452,935 tons of cargo by inland waterways. The previous maximum was 419,853 tons in May 2019. “We have the largest achievement in the shipment of gra- in for export - 387,267 tons. This figure has not exceeded 338,344 tons since October 2019. During July, Nibulon expor- ted the most wheat, barley and corn.” the company said. The shipping company emphasizes that the achieve- ment of record marks in the work of the fleet is the re- sult of constant systemic development of the enterprise. It is the implementation of Nibulon's comprehensive in- vestment program for the revival of Ukrainian rivers as transport arteries with each passing year that allows them to set new records. Thus, in the 2019/20 marketing year, despite the corona crisis and other obstacles, a record 3.8 million tons of various cargoes were transported by inland waterways . 4.9 million tons of grain and oilseeds were shipped for export , which makes the last three marketing years the best in the company's history. Next year it is planned to transport 4.5-5 million tons of cargo for export to 6 million tons of grain. Russia's VTB acquires remaining 30% of grain trader Miro Russian bank VTB has acquired the remaining 30% of grain trader Mirogroup to raise its holding to 100% as it continues to expand its grain trading activities. The sta- te-controlled bank became the largest operator of Russia's grain export infrastructure and a major grain trader after a series of acquisitions in 2019 and 2020. It has said it planned to expand its grain business further and then exit. VTB, Russia's second-largest lender, bought 70% in Miro a year ago via its Demetra Holding unit. "The inc- rease of the stake in Mirogroup Resources ... is fully in line with Demetra Holding's strategy of building an integ- rated export chain on the grain market," Vitaly Sergeic- huk, deputy head of VTB's client relations department in market regions, said. Miro works with Swiss grain trading company Solaris, a regular participant in state purchase tenders by Egypt, the world's biggest wheat importer and the second-largest buyer of Russian wheat after Turkey. REUTERS