MHP halts poultry exports to EU

Ukraine’s poultry exports to the EU were stopped due
to the confirmation of the presence of the highly pathogenic H5 type avian influenza
in Vinnytsia region, leading poultry producer MHP (MHPC LI, MHPSA) 
announced on Jan. 23. The bird disease was detected at two enterprises located
in Buhakiv village, Nemyriv district, Vinnytsia region on Jan. 19. The
Ukrainian veterinary authorities reported it took all necessary measures to
localize and prevent the spread of avian influenza.

The outbreak has not affected MHP facilities, some of
which are located in the same Vinnytsia region of Ukraine. The company is
undertaking all necessary measures to prevent potential outbreaks at MHP’s
units.

MHP’s facilities based in Vinnytsia region account for
55% of its total capacity of poultry meat production.

Andriy Perederey: The cease
of Ukraine’s poultry export to EU will have an impact on the operations of MHP
(where the company delivered 17% of poultry meat produced in 2018). But in our
view the effect will be temporal, thus won’t affect the company’s fundamentals
much.