Four sugar factories will not start work due to gas prices
Out of 34 sugar factories in Ukraine this year, 29 have started operating, 4 have officially refused to start the sugar-making season. Among the reasons for the rise in gas prices, which leads to unprofitableness. The director of the "Kharkivsakhar" association Yuriy Ilchenko told about it.
As of October 25, Ukraine produced 598.8 thousand tons of sugar and processed 4.45 million tons of sugar beet.
According to experts, the current high yield of sugar beet in Ukraine and the increase in the area under this crop have created all the conditions for the price of sugar to decrease. However, the rise in gas prices ruined these forecasts.
Out of 34 sugar factories in Ukraine, 19 operate only on natural gas. At the same time, its cost has grown to such a level that from an economic point of view, it makes no sense for factories to start the sugar-making season.
According to Yuriy Ilchenko, if last year the price for gas was 7-8 UAH per m³, then this year – 28 UAH per m³. This was an economic disaster for many enterprises in the industry.