Main points
- Ukrainian agricultural companies are facing a shortage of workers and are considering options for attracting foreigners, but this remains a complex and expensive process.
- Many companies, such as MHP and LNZ Group, are betting on the development of Ukrainian personnel and investing in training, while others, such as Ukravit, are looking towards automation and robotization.
Foreign workers in Ukraine / Photo by Magnific
The Ukrainian agricultural sector is increasingly facing a shortage of workers, which is why companies are starting to look at foreign labor. At the same time, businesses recognize that attracting workers from Asia remains a difficult and expensive process.
Ukrainian farmers are already receiving applications from workers from Asia
A farmer from Kirovohrad Oblast, Oleksandr Shepelenko, said on TikTok that a potential worker from Bangladesh approached him personally with an offer to come work on the farm.
According to the farmer, the proposed salary was almost half the average wage in Ukraine. At the same time, the farmer himself emphasizes that his team is still counting on Ukrainian workers.
We still want to stick with Ukrainians, form a strong team, expand it, train and develop it,
– Shepelenko noted.
Such appeals are no longer rare. Foreigners are interested in working in the Ukrainian agricultural sector, and videos of migrant workers from India, Nepal, and Bangladesh in Ukrainian cities are increasingly appearing on social networks.
MHP tests foreign labor, but faces difficulties
MHP began systematically studying the possibility of attracting foreigners back in 2024. The first employees from abroad arrived at the end of 2025, but the pilot project turned out to be difficult, Latifundist reports.
After the first night of shelling, some of the foreign workers left their workplaces and stopped communicating. As a result, the company was forced to notify the migration service and the employment center, and their work permits were subsequently canceled.
The MHP says that the main problem is not only documents, but also people's adaptation to life in wartime.
And we can already say that this model can work: their productivity is at the proper level, discipline is also,
– noted the Director of Human Resources Dina Konogray.
At the same time, the company emphasizes that the full cycle of hiring a foreign employee today takes at least six months and is accompanied by a large number of checks, visa procedures, and logistical difficulties.
Businesses are increasingly looking towards robotics
Some agricultural companies do not yet see hiring foreigners as an effective solution to the personnel problem. In particular, Ukravit states that legislative restrictions and financial risks make this format unattractive.
The company's founder, Vitaliy Ilchenko, believes that the future of the agricultural sector lies in the automation of production and robotization of processes. The company has even ordered a humanoid robot to perform routine tasks.
Robots don't get tired, don't get distracted, and can work consistently with fewer errors,
– Ilchenko explained.
The company also notes that in the future, the work may turn out to be cheaper than bringing in workers from abroad, especially given the difficulty of adapting foreign personnel.
Agricultural companies continue to rely on Ukrainian workers
Despite the staff shortage, many large companies consider developing local staff to be a more strategic decision. LNZ Group, Bayer, and other agroholdings invest in staff training, collaborate with educational institutions, and offer paid internships to young people.
Bayer Ukraine emphasizes that the country still has sufficient human potential, and investments in the development of Ukrainian specialists are more effective in the long term.
The MHP also acknowledges that foreign labor is unlikely to become a mass solution in the coming years. For now, it is more of a point tool for individual cases, rather than a full-fledged replacement for Ukrainian workers.
EU accession could cost farmers hundreds of euros per hectare: the Rada is sounding the alarm
However, our farmers are forced to solve not only the issue of labor for their enterprises. For example, one of the conditions for joining the EU is the rejection of subsidies for farmers, which can kill the competitiveness of Ukrainian farmers against their European colleagues.
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Ukraine should receive automatic access to EU subsidies after accession to avoid significant costs for farmers to adapt to EU standards.
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The lack of subsidies could lead to increased competition with European producers, threatening small and medium-sized agribusiness in Ukraine.