Slobozhansky Agrocomplex is one of the largest pig-breeding complexes in the Eastern Ukraine, the so-called «hundred thousand pigs» whose breeding stock before the war amounted to more than 60 thousand pigs (3 435 breeding pigs). Its production facilities are located in Chuguevsky district of Kharkov region.
From the first days of the war (March, 4) the enterprise was under occupation. Since mid-April the villages (Chkalivske and Ivanovka), where the production facilities of Slobozhansky Agricultural Plant were located, were in the first line of fire. Such a situation lasted until September 8 — almost five months.
«The enterprise was under constant shelling, the roads to and from the farms were blocked, with no opportunity to remove animals or on the contrary deliver veterinary drugs, feed and fuel. Logistics between farms was completely destroyed. As a consequence, the reproductor in the village of Ivanovka was left without feed and the animals began to starve. Most of the workers moved to safer regions, not only because of the threat to their lives, but also through the terror that the occupation troops had unleashed. Due to the shortage of specialists, we had to choose priority groups of animals to keep,» Slobozhansky Agrocombinat commented .
Since April 23, the entire occupied region was left without electricity supply, including the village. Ivanovka. Diesel generators started up on the farm. The watering and feeding systems were turned on for only a few hours, trying to save also running out of diesel. Animals began to die from lack of water and feed, disease and shelling.
On May 13, missile strikes at the Promzona complex destroyed the feed mill and nearby fattening buildings, and the animals began to be fed with fodder that had been produced on homemade equipment.
Over the next few months, artillery and missile fire destroyed 34 of the 42 buildings of the fattening complex «Promzona» and four buildings of the pedigree reproducer in the village of Ivanovka, and almost all the warehouses of the grain elevator farm. The occupants seized most of the equipment from the motor and tractor fleet, looted the administration building and warehouses of the slaughterhouse.
At the time of de-occupation the enterprise was able to save 1.3 thousand heads of breeding stock and about 7,000 heads of fattening, where pigs are still dying of cold in the destroyed buildings. A total of about 63 thousand pigs died during the occupation. Direct losses of PJSC «Slobozhansky Agrocomplex» amount to about 20 million dollars.
«Now we want to renew the livestock in the village of Ivanovka, where about a thousand repair pigs survived. Feeding is planned with ready mixed fodder, which we buy. By July 2023 we intend to reach 20 thousand heads of marketable livestock. Of course, restoration and reconstruction of the main farm Promzona in Chkalivske village remains strategic. After all, our company is a strategically important meat producer, not only for the region but also for the country as a whole» the leaders of the enterprise shared their plans for the future.
The Association of Ukranian Pig Breeders is a nonprofit, voluntary organization founded by domestic pork producers. The main objectives of the association are representation and protection of rights and interests of the association farms, assistance in development and implementation of new technologies for the efficient production of pork, expansion of sales markets, protection of domestic sales market.