Work and volunteering under fire. The heroic story of the Amina company from Ukraine
Agro-Yug-Service LLC is a manufacturer of flour, semolina, pasta and confectionery under the AMINA brand, which for more than 20 years has been supplying products that consumers value for high quality standards. The company's facilities are located in the South of Ukraine - in the hero city of Mykolaiv.
The impact of war on the enterprise
Since the beginning of hostilities, our company faced a number of problems that had to be solved at an accelerated pace: suspension of supply of products outside Mykolaiv region, increase in cost and transportation of products due to the unstable situation with raw materials, shortage of packaging material, power outages and water supply in the city.
Many of our employees were forced to leave the city in order for the company to continue operating. We provided work to workers from other factories who stopped working in the city and region. One of such examples was the PepsiCo plant, which suffered from Russian invaders.
Despite the difficult working conditions, we value each employee, that’s why we support them in every way and pay a decent salary. Because we understand very well how many risks they take and what stress they have.
Due to the shell of the Russian occupiers in the water supply system, there has been no water in the city for more than a month. As part of the region is occupied, it is currently impossible to repair the pipeline. In order not to stop production, we made a well and provided our company with water.
"In order to support our team a bit, every Sunday at AMINA we organize a "bath day" for employees and their families".
As for the production itself, in the first month of our company there was a rush of orders due toh the need to help and support Ukraine and the termination of most of our competitors. Also there were state orders from the Military administration of the Mykolaiv region. Currently, some of our products are made specifically for our troops.
Export activity
Before the war, we shipped our products to Romania, Slovakia, Belarus and Moldova. We continue to work despite everything, and in April we managed to revive exports to Moldova and Romania.
The company has its own laboratory, which together with the control department carefully ensures that each batch of Amina products has reference characteristics and satisfies the taste of the most demanding customer.
"We do not use any chemical additives to improve the flour and we are proud of the purity of our own product".
Social responsibility of the company during the war
Our company is actively involved in humanitarian aid. We manufacture and provide products to volunteer organizations, restaurants, which in turn help needy Ukrainians, refugees and the elderly. A significant part of free assistance to Ukrainians was provided at the expense of our company.
"We spend from 4 to 8 thousand dollars on humanitarian aid every day, however, our opportunities are not limitless. So we launched a fundraising campaign".
Indifferent people from all over the world join the campaign and transfer the funds for which we continue to supply humanitarian products to volunteers and communities in our region. In this regard we have created a separate landing page to raise financial aid and encourage all concerned to join the fundraiser and promote our initiative. Every contribution is important.
At the end of March, our friends from Nova Ukraine donated $50,000 to continue our company's humanitarian activities, and we were able to feed about 300,000 Ukrainians with these funds ( distributed 32 tons of flour, 16 tons of pasta and 8 tons of cookies). We also work with the United Nations, which has purchased our products for the United Nations World Food Program. From this large order, 1000 tons of flour will be provided to the needy people in Mykolaiv as a part of humanitarian aid. Under the same program, we delivered 432 tons of products in April.
Our company does not stop operating in the conditions of hostilities in our region, we continue to produce and supply products. We are convinced that our story of steadfastness can inspire people around the world and help donors to continue volunteering. That's why in a conversation with CNN channel and an interview with the Wall Street Journal, we shared our experience of business adapting during the war and participating in the struggle against the russian occupiers.
We believe in our victory and do everything possible to bring this day closer! Let's join forces in this fight against evil. We must persevere, because the truth is behind us”
The material was prepared within the framework of the special project "Trade with Ukraine: tell the world that Ukraine is working!", which aims to promote Ukrainian export-oriented enterprises operating during the war in Ukraine and abroad.
- Author of the material: Malachiev Shamil, CEO of Agro-Yug-Service LLC
- Website: https://amina-ua.com/export