Investments from Ukraine are increasing in Lithuania. Now, a 60-million-euro animal feed factory is being built by Ukraine’s Kormotech firm, which is set to create over 200 jobs.
Kormotech's first plant in the Kėdainiai Free Economic Zone was built some five years ago. The company decided to expand the plant due to tax incentives and the availability of labour.
“We invested around €20 million in our first plant, employing 170 people, only five of whom are Ukrainians and the rest are Lithuanians from nearby areas. The new plant will have twice the capacity and we plan to employ around 220–250 people,” said Rostyslav Vovk, the board chairman at Kormotech.
According to Lithuania’s Economy and Innovation Ministry, this is the eighth largest Ukrainian company to invest in the country. Last year, a letter of intent was signed with another Ukrainian company to build an explosives plant.
In total, 2,600 Ukrainian companies are operating in Lithuania. Over 400 of them were founded after the full-scale invasion in 2022 and 280 last year.
“The aggregate direct investments have surpassed €120 million and continue to grow, all of which indicates that this economic cooperation is significant,” said Economy Minister Lukas Savickas.
“Ukrainian investments are something new for Lithuania because historically our biggest investors have been from either Germany, the US or Scandinavian countries,” said Elijus Čivilis, director general of Invest Lithuania, the government’s investment promotion agency.
According to Vitaliy Kovaly, Ukraine’s minister of agrarian policy and food, the establishment of Ukrainian-owned factories in Lithuania is also an advantage for Ukraine.
“It is very important for us that Europe and European countries accept Ukraine as a creator of added value in the economy,” he said.
Ukrainians say the situation is slowly improving for investors in their embattled country.
“I can assure you that our next plant, which we are already planning, will be built in Ukraine. For the time being, we have chosen Lithuania, a decision we made a year and a half ago, at which time we decided to spread the potential risks due to the war in Ukraine,” said Vovk, head of Kormotech.
Since the start of the war, Lithuania has welcomed more than 90,000 refugees from Ukraine who are estimated to have paid more than €200 million in taxes.
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