Chicken Run

With nearly half a billion in financing from development banks, Myronivsky Hliboproduct (MHP) has been able to expand its operations to become the largest poultry company in Ukraine. The company, owned and controlled by one of the richest men in Ukraine, slaughters an estimated 332 million chickens per year to produce more than half a million tonnes of chicken meat. Its Vinnytsia complex is the largest chicken farm in Europe, and local communities suffer from foul smells from manure, transport and slaughter of chickens, increased heavy traffic that damages roads and houses, and constant pressure from the company to lease their land. This report examines the business strategies of MHP and how these strategies have been shaped by International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the European Union. Using a business strategy frame, it concludes that the negative consequences around the Vinnytsia complex are caused by the scale and the rapid expansion of the company and that the Netherlands has been instrumental in growing the company by providing finance, technology and an export market.