b'UKRAINE UPDATEWORKING IN WAR CONDITIONSHOW THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE IS IMPACTING THE SEED SECTOR.BY: LAERCIO BORTOLINIINTERVIEW WITH INCOMING ISTA PRESIDENT.BY: MARCEL BRUINS efore the 24th of February, we hadleave their homes and relocate either B many ambitious plans as a companyto the Western part of Ukraine or even for 2022; it was only the beginningabroad. Thirty of our employees serve of the year. But today, people and theirin the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and we safety are the main priorities for Bayer.support them by paying their regular Since the beginning of the war, we havesalaries. Unfortunately, the work of our tried to keep our people safe and supportdemonstration fields (AgroArenas) in them and their families as much as pos- the Eastern and Southern parts of the sible. I hope that soon Ukraine will becountry was stopped because of mili-able to return to normal life. This is thetary actions. Although most employees first thing I want to wish all Ukrainians were able to leave to the safer territories, brave and invincible people. But for now,some of the remaining equipment was we must work in the war conditions.destroyed during the shelling. Today we are proud of our people: three other ADAPT QUICKLY AgroArenas are working and demonstrat-We did not have a complete stop anding our innovative products to farmers started to return to our business activ- even during wartime.ities in Marchfirstly, in places where there was no danger to employees.STRONG SUPPORTLearning to respond promptly to theLaercio Bortolini To support Ukrainian agriculture, Bayer war-related changes was critical. We con- donated more than 26,000 bags of corn tinued to supply corn seeds, import cropseeds and 2,000 bags of winter oil seed protection products while diversifyingrape seeds to 1,250 small farmers in 17 the supply routes of our products. In theregions. The total value of donations that short term, our team found and rented abusiness conditions. Despite the dangersthe company provided to support Ukraine warehouse in the West of Ukraine, whichand risks, Ukrainian farmers continued tois more than EUR 10 mln, including med-started functioning in a record-break- sow and now start to harvest their fields.icines and seed supplies, donations to ing three weeks. There was also greatRed Cross and local charities. And, most co-operation and support within indus- SOWING UNDER DIFFICULTrecently, Bayer supported an initiative on try to ensure that products reach farm- CONDITIONS demining by donating to the non-profit ers before sowing starts. For example,The war extremely impacted agriculture.Fondation suisse de dminage to pur-at one point when our own warehouseUkraine went through the most challeng- chase a mine clearance machine. Since was locked down, one of our distributorsing sowing campaign in history: from thethe beginning of the war, large areas of allowed us to use their warehouse as adifficulties because of mined fields to theland have been contaminated with land-staging point for deliveries. We also sawshortage of fuel and the reduced teams,mines and unexploded or abandoned the authorities being willing to expediteas many joined the armed forces. All ofmunitions. A donation of 825,000 euros import procedures to get products intous across Bayer are in awe of Ukrainianwill be dedicated to purchasing a large-the country. farmers who, whenever possible, didsize mechanical mine clearance machine. not slow down nor give up innovativeI believe our contribution will ensure IMPORTANCE OF UKRAINE approaches to growing crops with theirfarmers safer fieldwork and secure the Immediately after the full-scale Russianprofound knowledge of their fields. Theyupcoming harvest without risking lives.invasion of Ukraine started, world pricesknow how to grow more with less. TheWhile we face much uncertainty in for wheat increased by almost 30 perworld needs ag products from Ukraine,the short term, we keep feeling strong cent, for corn by 20 per cent. It demon- and Ukrainian farmers are able to pro- about the future. Our work is a good strated how important Ukraine is in theduce them. indication about how committed we are production of agricultural commoditiestowards this country. We see our future and how big is its influence. UkrainianIMPACT OF THE WAR here and continue to invest in Ukraine. farmers have substantial challenges withHow did this war impact us? As a busi- We believe that agrarian business in exporting their grain outside of the coun- ness, we are doing what we can: weUkraine is strong, and farmers have what try, though we have cautious optimismmanaged to deliver most corn seedsit takes to rebound after the war. that the situation will improve. In thebefore the war started and gradually meantime, we are thinking about how weresumed import of crop protection prod- Editors Note: Laercio Bortolini is can give our farmers an additional senseucts. Though we also face certain chal- Country Division Head of Crop Science of security, by offering more favourablelenges. Many of our employees had toUkraine since October 2021.10IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'