In the context of the actual debate on feeding the world Ukraine is playing a special role as well-known for being one of the largest food baskets in the world. The agricultural sector has an exceptional dimension in Ukrainian economy and in the global agri-food supply. In this context, we are particularly concerned about the tragic and severe consequences of the war in Ukraine, both for the Ukrainian population and for the populations of other countries whose survival and economic prosperity is linked to agricultural production and agrifood trade flows from Ukraine.
CEMA has developed a position paper to contribute to the thinking of all parties involved in the reconstruction and recovery of Ukraine’s agriculture after the war. This paper is proposing some guiding principles for rebuilding a forward-looking agricultural sector that is more aligned with the EU architecture. It was the starting point of the debate taking place at the event.
Videos from this event
2024 Rebuilding Ukraine’s agriculture – Welcome
Mark Titterington
2024 Rebuilding Ukraine’s agriculture – Introduction panel
Mark Titterington, Taras Vysotskyi, Serhiy Tereshko, Alessandro Malavolti
2024 Rebuilding Ukraine’s agriculture – Ukraine Recovery / Facility Plan for agriculture
Mark Titterington, Gilles Dryancour, Nazar Bobitski, Dirk Stratmann
Summaries from this event
Jul 12, 2024
Read NowArticles/News
2024 Rebuilding Ukraine’s Agriculture - Panel 2: Global market access for Ukrainian agriculture
Jul 12, 2024
Read NowArticles/News
2024 Rebuilding Ukraine’s Agriculture - Panel 3: EU framework and Ukrainian agriculture
Jul 12, 2024
Read NowConfirmed speakers (in alphabetical order)
Cédric Benoist
Deputy Secretary General, AGPB (France)
Cédric Benoist
Deputy Secretary General, AGPB (France)
Cédric Benoist is Deputy Secretary General, AGPB (France).
Nazar Bobitski
Head of the UCAB EU office, Ukrainian Agribusiness Club
Nazar Bobitski
Head of the UCAB EU office, Ukrainian Agribusiness Club
As Director of the EU Office, Ukrainian Agribusiness Club, Nazar Bobitski is the voice of Ukrainian Agriculture in the EU.
Vincent Cordonnier
Deputy Head of Unit, Neighborhood enlargement and pre-accession assistance DG AGRI, European Commission
Vincent Cordonnier
Deputy Head of Unit, Neighborhood enlargement and pre-accession assistance DG AGRI, European Commission
Vincent Cordonnier is a French national. He holds a Master's degree in Agronomy from AgroParisTech. He has been working in the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission (DG AGRI) since 2008. He is currently Deputy Head of Unit G.4 – Neighbourhood, enlargement and pre-accession assistance.
Since he joined DG AGRI, he has held various positions and has gained experience in team management, international policy and trade, policy development, analysis and Outlook, financial management and communication.
Throughout his career, Vincent Cordonnier worked on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, the negotiations of free trade agreements with Japan and Ecuador, geographical indications, and the management of the Farm Accountancy data Network. He has been responsible for the organisation of the EU Agricultural Outlook Conference from 2020 to 2023.
He is fluent in French and English.
Gilles Dryancour
Chairman of the CEMA Strategic Committee and Vice-President Corporate Affairs, Europe, John Deere
Gilles Dryancour
Chairman of the CEMA Strategic Committee and Vice-President Corporate Affairs, Europe, John Deere
Gilles Dryancour is Vice President Corporate Affairs for Europe for the company John Deere and John Deere Fellow. He was re-elected as Chairman of the CEMA Strategic Committee in June 2023.
The CEMA Strategic Committee advises and provides recommendations on policy developments to the CEMA Board of Directors, in order to assess policy options and anticipate challenges related to European policies affecting the industry. Members of the Committee are national associations representatives and companies’ delegates.
Andrii Dykun
Chairman, Ukrainian Agri Council
Andrii Dykun
Chairman, Ukrainian Agri Council
Andrii Dykun heads up the “Ukrainian Agri Council” Public Union (“UAC” Public Union), which is a voluntary, non-governmental organization which was found in June, 2014. The Union was established on the basis of common interests and is aimed to realize rights and freedoms, protect legitimate social and economic interests of its members. The Union members’ total land area is 2,100,000 ha.
Andrii is also the President of the Association of Milk Producers of Ukraine that comprises of 150 member farms that produce 40% of raw milk processed in Ukraine and the former Deputy Minister of Agriculture in Ukraine holding the position in 2014-2015 before embarking on his current roles.
Tassos Haniotis
Special Advisor for Sustainable Productivity, Forum for the Future of Agriculture; Senior Guest Research Scholar,...
Tassos Haniotis
Special Advisor for Sustainable Productivity, Forum for the Future of Agriculture; Senior Guest Research Scholar, IIASA
Olena Kovalova
Former Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine
Olena Kovalova
Former Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine
Olena Kovalova is a former Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine (2015-2019), Director of Institute of Continuing Education of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (2020-2022) and an expert in Food Security and Food System Transformations.
She was a Facilitator of the Process of the National Dialogue on Food Systems Transformation in Ukraine and provided expert opinion on the preparation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative; cooperated with the World Bank, UN WFP, and UNIDO.
She is a Dr. Sc. Economics.
Alessandro Malavolti
Vice-President, CEMA
Alessandro Malavolti
Vice-President, CEMA
Alessandro Malavolti was born in Italy in 1971, he graduated in Business Administration at the University of Modena (Italy). He joined the family business – the AMA group, leader in the production and distribution of components and accessories for agricultural and lawn care machinery – after completing his studies in 1994, and held various positions of responsibility within the company until becoming CEO in 1998. Member of the Board of the Territorial Association of Confindustria of Reggio Emilia from 2007 to 2011 and of the Executive Council from 2011 to 2013, then permanent invitee in the Extended Body of Unindustria Reggio Emilia from 2015 to 2017. Director of FederUnacoma from 2006 to 2012, President of Comacomp (Association of Component manufacturers) from 2012 to 2017, Vice President of FederUnacoma from 2013 to 2017, President of FederUnacoma from 2017 to 2023 and Vice-President of CEMA from 2022.
Max Schulman
Senior Advisor, cereals oilseeds at Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), Finland
Max Schulman
Senior Advisor, cereals oilseeds at Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), Finland
Max grew up on his family’s farm which he took over in 1986. Stor-Tötar Gård, is an old family farm that combines arable land and forestry in South Western Finland that has been in the family for around 400 years. Continuity that hopefully will go forward since Max is raising three boys together with his Spanish wife Marta.
Before taking over the full responsibility of running the farm and having taken a degree in agricultural economics, he became a grain trader for the Finnish Grain Board. After that Max worked in the agricultural machinery sector from 2003 until 2008. This job took him all over the world from America to China.
For the last 15 years he has been working in the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK) as the Advisor for cereals, oilseeds and protein crops.
Max was Chairman 2013–2019 of the Cereals Working Group in Copa-Cogeca based in Brussels. He is a member of the EU Arable Crops Market Observatory and 2018-20 Chairman of the Civil Dialogue Group, Arable Crops. From 2020 –. Owner of Farm-XPort Ltd, grain trading company for special consignments. Co-founder and member of the board of Grain Sense Ltd, the portable protein and quality analyzer for grains. Chairman of VYR the Finnish Grain Committee, 2018 – 2021. Chair of the Agri Food Chain Round Table on PPP 2020 – and vice chairman of the Copa Cogeca Phytosanitary WG from 2021-, vice chairman of the Seeds WG 2023.
Dirk Stratmann
Spokesman Ukraine and Central Asia, GAA (German Agribusiness Alliance, Berlin)
Dirk Stratmann
Spokesman Ukraine and Central Asia, GAA (German Agribusiness Alliance, Berlin)
Dirk Stratmann completed apprenticeships as an industrial merchant as well as an expert merchant for foreign trade and has many years of experience in the international agribusiness. For more than 30 years he has worked in different leadership positions for the world's leading agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere.
Dirk Stratmann is founder and general manager of the consulting company 3L Teamwork GmbH, based in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Furthermore, he is a member of the Board of Directors of Merz Financial AG, Zurich. Since many years he is also actively engaged in voluntary association assignments at the GAA (German Agribusiness Alliance), part of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations (OA), and the VDMA, German Mechanical Engineering Federation, Agricultural Machinery.
Serhiy Tereshko
Deputy Head, Mission of Ukraine to the European Union
Serhiy Tereshko
Deputy Head, Mission of Ukraine to the European Union
Serhiy Tereshko is Deputy Head, Mission of Ukraine to the European Union.
Mark Titterington
Co-Founder & Director, Forum for the Future of Agriculture
Mark Titterington
Co-Founder & Director, Forum for the Future of Agriculture
Taras Vysotskyi
Acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine
Taras Vysotskyi
Acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine
From 2006, Taras was the manager of the private enterprise "Zdolbunivvetpostach" and from 2011 to 2013, he was an expert on agricultural markets at LLC "Nika PP". From 2013 to 2019 he was an expert on agricultural markets and became the General Director of the Ukrainian Club of Agrarian Business.
In 2019, he was appointed as the First Deputy Head of the Cherkasy Regional State Administration and was appointed Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade, and Agriculture of Ukraine.
In May 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine appointed Taras Vysotskiy as the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine and in May 2024 he was appointed as the Acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
Albertine van Wolfswinkel
Head of Corporate Responsibility Europe, Middle East and Africa, Cargill
Albertine van Wolfswinkel
Head of Corporate Responsibility Europe, Middle East and Africa, Cargill
Albertine van Wolfswinkel is the Regional Lead for Cargill’s Corporate Responsibility team in Europe, Middle East and Africa. She joined Cargill in 2021.
The Corporate Responsibility team builds strategic external partnerships and deploys philanthropic investments that advance Cargill’s social and environmental priorities (ESG) and support needs of local communities, including the Ukraine response efforts. Last fiscal year, Cargill deployed $115.5 million across 70 countries to drive impact across multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Prior to Cargill, Albertine worked at Danone in various roles amongst which Corporate Affairs Director for the Benelux and started her career at Unilever.
Albertine graduated from the University of Utrecht and holds a master’s degree in medical biology.
Agenda
Jun 18, 2024
Arrival of participants, light lunch and networking
Setting the scene
- Mark Titterington, Co-Founder & Director Forum for the Future of Agriculture
Introduction session
Speakers
- Taras Vysotskyi, Acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, First Deputy Minister
- Serhiy Tereshko, Deputy Head of the Mission of Ukraine to the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community
- Alessandro Malavoti, Vice-President, CEMA
Moderator
- Mark Titterington, Co-Founder & Director Forum for the Future of Agriculture
Panel 1: Ukraine Recovery / Ukraine Facility Plan for agriculture
Opening statement
- Dr Gilles Dryancour, Chairman of the CEMA Strategic Committee and Vice-President Corporate Affairs, Europe, John Deere
Panel session including Q&A with audience
- Dr Gilles Dryancour, Chairman of the CEMA Strategic Committee and Vice-President Corporate Affairs, Europe, John Deere
- Nazar Bobitski, Director, Brussels office, Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB)
- Dirk Stratmann, Spokesman Ukraine and Central Asia, German Agribusiness Alliance (GAA), Berlin
Moderator
- Mark Titterington, Co-Founder & Director Forum for the Future of Agriculture
Panel 2: Global market access for Ukrainian agriculture
Opening statement
- Tassos Haniotis, Sustainable Productivity Adviser, Forum for the Future of Agriculture
Panel session including Q&A with audience
- Tassos Haniotis, Sustainable Productivity Adviser, ForumforAg
- Albertine Van Wolfswinkel, Head of Corporate Responsibility Europe, Middle East and Africa, Cargill
- Olena Kovalova, Sc.Ec., Former Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine
Moderator
- Mark Titterington, Co-Founder & Director Forum for the Future of Agriculture
Short break
Panel 3: EU framework and Ukrainian agriculture
Opening statement
- Vincent Cordonnier, Deputy Head of Unit, Neighborhood enlargement and pre-accession assistance DG AGRI, European Commission
Panel session including Q&A with audience
- Vincent Cordonnier, Deputy Head of Unit, Neighborhood enlargement and pre-accession assistance DG AGRI, European Commission
- Cédric Benoist, Deputy Secretary General, AGPB (France)
- Max Schulman, Senior Advisor, cereals oilseeds at Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), Finland
- Andrii Dykun, Chairman, Ukrainian Agri Council
Moderator
- Mark Titterington, Co-Founder & Director Forum for the Future of Agriculture
Concluding remarks
More Events
Tuesday, Apr 01, 2025
Find out moreTuesday, Nov 19, 2024
Find out moreWednesday, Nov 27, 2024
Find out more