Oleksandr Fedorov
Staying optimistic
in times of war
Oleksandr Fedorov is General Director of KWS in Ukraine and responsible for the corn and sunflower seed business. He describes the difficult task of maintaining prospects for business while his main wish is to see security and peace.
It is hard to believe, but right now the personal and working lives of people in Ukraine are running according to the schedules of air alarms and electricity shutdowns – even the photo shoot for this article was interrupted a couple of times by them. Oleksandr Fedorov has been leading the company in Ukraine through the terror and turmoil of war for nine months now. “The week after February 24 was a total shock for us, and after we realized that we and our families were in relative safety we got back to routine work with clients and partners in this state of war,” recalls Oleksandr Fedorov.
The priority for the company right now is staff safety and mitigation of business risks. “We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved in the past extraordinary months – for agriculture and our beloved country as such,” says Oleksandr Fedorov. “Protecting the sovereignty of Ukraine is incredibly important to us and we work hard to keep it stable.”
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“I feel responsible for the country. I feel responsible for the destiny of our organization and my colleagues. I would like to send the message that we have to run our business as much as possible because this is our help for the economy of Ukraine and our contribution to the national victory, which we believe will come soon.”
The company business is directly affected and is going through hardships due to the decreased purchasing power of the clients – the blockade of the seaports for exports diminished the profitability of the main crops. “Our hope is that we will get through the difficult year of 2023 and the market will start recovering quickly.”
Plans for a new production line – still feasible?
The first production line of the seed plant in Kamianets-Podilskyi was opened in November 2016. “We were even more successful than stated in our initial business plan. During the second production season the working capacity of the plant reached 100 percent!” This fact was the determining factor in the decision to continue investing in the second production line. Construction started in the end of 2021 and was interrupted by the war. “However, our belief in a strong and successful Ukraine is firm and stable! “I am grateful to management for continuing investment in the new line,” says Oleksandr Fedorov and sees good reasons for the decision.
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“I assume that the decision to invest in seed production in Ukraine was a tough one for the company, but at the same time it was right. Ukraine has rich soils, a good climate, huge market potential, and all of these bring extra opportunities for the company to be successful in the Ukrainian market. At the same time, we also consider this investment as a new era for our local entity.”
In 2010 Oleksandr Fedorov joined a relatively small company with a staff of only 40 colleagues; its net sales did not exceed 10 million euros and it ranked as one of the last among the 10 main seed companies in the country.
The main challenge for him at that time was to make clients trust in local seed production. Imported seeds were perceived as better products by the public. Most of the competitors focused on imports without putting in additional efforts: “Our strategy, on the other hand, was more complicated, but right: Our qualified work convinced the clients, and up to 100 percent of local sales are now made with locally produced seeds. Many thanks, of course, go to the whole team involved in production and sales,” comments Oleksandr Fedorov.
He became General Director in 2014 and at present the company has 160 staff, generates net sales of more than 40 million euros and proudly stands among the five biggest seed companies in Ukraine. Despite the ongoing war, which is destroying and interrupting everything, this year is very special for KWS UKRAINE.
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“I hope to say that already in 2022, about one third of our total volume produced will be exported to the European market. This means European farmers will grow Ukrainian seeds on a wide scale.”
As Oleksandr Fedorov mentions, this third of the total volume is the equivalent of more than 100,000 seed units of the KWS seeds produced in Ukraine.
The main personal challenge for Oleksandr Fedorov as Head of the BU – to get a 10 percent share of the corn seed market – is still to be achieved and the team is motivated to reach it step-by-step: “I think that KWS UKRAINE has a bright future ahead. We have innovative products and motivated colleagues. Each BU has its own ambitious tasks and goals, which will surely be achieved.”
◼ Production in Ukraine
Kamjanez-Podilskyj ran at full production capacity in its second year; construction work on a second production line started at the end of 2021.
Despite the war, the goal is to export about a third of the total volume produced to the European market as early as 2022.
Routine work continued after it became apparent that the employees were relatively safe.
The right career choice
Oleksandr Fedorov was born in the eastern region of Ukraine in the rural area with mainly agricultural roots. “As for my career, I did not have a lot of choices. However, in time I realized that I like agriculture and would like to build my future career in this business.” During 23 years of his work Oleksandr Fedorov has gone all the way from agronomist at the farm to the General Director for the subsidiary enterprise of a leading international company: “I am happy that I made the right choice for my career and I plan to grow in it.” |
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