The history of the Terezine Group of Companies dates back to 1992, when a small business, Elita, was established to start commercial pig production. At the start, Elita had 1,000 pigs and 20 employees. There was no land for rent, and the owners of the company immediately started a breeding course. They were among the first in Ukraine to import genetic products from Estonia, which was a novelty, so in the second half of the 90s, Elita was known by all pig farms in the country as one of the best suppliers of breeding animals.
Today, Terezine Group of Companies is a large, diversified company/entity engaged in: breeding and commercial pig production, breeding and commercial cattle breeding, crop production, elevator operations, oilseed processing, frozen semi-finished products and dairy production. As a significant player in the Ukrainian agricultural market, the company is not only concerned with its own success, but also supports the development of the industry by supporting global initiatives.
"Our company was one of the few that created the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders (AUPB). Even in independent Ukraine, pig breeding began to develop actively - there was where and who to work, but no one knew how to move and where to go. The farms of that time were mostly old farms, without technology and proper genetic material. There was a critical need to learn and explore this area. Since then, cooperation between the companies has begun, and at first it was just study trips abroad, mainly to European countries. But when a few proactive people came up with the idea of creating their own industry association, Nadiya Kudlay, co-owner of Terezine Group, immediately responded and supported the initiative. European experience shows that associations are listened to, and they dictate the rules of the game in the agricultural market - changes at the state level are implemented only after consultations and approvals with specialised associations. Unfortunately, this is not yet the case in our country, but we are moving towards it and are doing a lot. Our community, the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders, is doing a lot for this. It gives us opportunities to learn, communicate, share and gain experience. In addition, any assistance (technical, legal, organisational) or advice is available from the AUPB.
The Association at the beginning and now are incomparable things. The association has grown and become more professional. Today, the AUPB has become a significant industry structure, which is listened to by government agencies, consulted, and interested in the opinion of business. However, this is based on a lot of work that has been done over the years. Today we are not just an association of initiative farms, we are the voice of the entire Ukrainian pig industry. We are very grateful to all the farms that believe in themselves, are not afraid of challenges, want to create their own future and the future of the industry and continue to join the AUPB. Today, it unites 59 farms, which accounts for 75% of the industrial pork market, but we continue to work, expand and invite other market participants to join the association!" — Terezine Group comments.
The Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders is a non-profit, voluntary organisation founded by domestic pork producers. The main goals of the association are to represent and protect the rights and interests of the association's farms, promote the development and implementation of new technologies for efficient pork production, expand sales markets, and protect the domestic market.