Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wants the country’s anti-corruption bodies to investigate a situation in which MHP received substantial amounts of government subsidies.
In a recent meeting, Zelenskiy wondered how the publicly traded company received about UAH2.5 billion (US$97 million) in government subsidies from the state budget in 2017-18, according to a Reuters report.
“It does not need state support, having excess profit,” Zelenskiy said. “It annually pays huge dividends to its shareholders. I would like to appear to our law enforcement (and) anti-corruption authorities – let’s check if we have … the amount of this budget aid and the amount of dividends and compare.”
MHP, which recently completed the acquisition of Slovenian poultry company Perutnina Ptuj and has completed five new rearing sites for production at its Vinnytsia poultry complex, is the largest poultry company in the Ukraine and is tied with Russia’s Cherkizovo as the sixth largest poultry company in Europe. According to the Poultry International Top Companies rankings, MHP, formerly known as Myronivsky Hliboproduct, slaughtered 312 million broilers in 2017.
In its most recent quarter, which ended March 31, MHP recorded a revenue of UAH$11.18 billion (US$436) million and a gross profit of UAH$2.08 billion (US$81 million). The company’s board on March 21 approved an interim dividend of UAH19.16 (US$0.75) per share, which collectively amounted to about UAH2.05 billion (US$80 million).
Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP), according to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, is a leading meat producer in Ukraine whose poultry division holds more than 50 percent market share. Poultry accounts for a 80 percent of revenues for MHP, which owns the Nasha Riaba brand.
The company has recently been increasing its exports to other markets. During the first quarter of the 2019 fiscal year, MHP increased its poultry exports by 47 percent on a year-over-year basis to 93,045 metric tons.
