The State Savings Bank of Ukraine, Oschadbank, said it has agreed to lend $4.5 million to help Suziria Group, a leading Ukrainian pet food maker, transfer the production of wet pet food back to Ukraine after the outbreak of war prompted it to relocate.
Suziria will use the funds to build a new production line for wet pet food in Kalush in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, Oschadbank said in a press release on Monday. Part of Suziria's production capacity in Kharkiv continues to operate.
The company transferred its grain feed production to Kalush after rocket attacks began hitting Kharkiv, and currently manufactures wet pet food at partner facilities in European Union countries, according to the release
"The development of its production in Ukraine will help the company gradually abandon the import of this product category and expand the geography of sales," Oschadbank said.
Suziria plans to start exporting Ukrainian-made wet food for pets to within the European market over the next three years, according to the press release. New production facilities will enable Suziria to produce 10,000 tons of wet food for pets per year.
In August, Suziria said it received a $2 million grant from the USAID Investment for Business Resilience Activity to open a new wet pet food production facility in Kalush, pledging to co-invest another $4.5 million through loans from Ukrainian banks and its resources.
Suziria said at the time the investment will allow it to create 130 new jobs, and significantly cut its production costs.
