Though Russia’s violent advance, the pet food producer Kormotech in western Ukraine continues its production of cat and dog food and furthermore created a charity in Lithuania accepting donations for its activities.
“This is a full-scale war, and since the beginning of the Russian invasion, I and most of our team have been based in Lviv, in western Ukraine, close to the border with Poland,” said Kateryna Kovalyuk-Burko, head of PR and communications at Kormotech. “We have our headquarters, factory and warehouses here, and it’s relatively safe. Still, air raid sirens go off once in a while, forcing us to seek shelter.”
“Despite this, our team is high-spirited, and we continue to produce dry and wet pet food for Ukrainian pets,” Kovalyuk-Burko added. According to Kovalyuk-Burko, the production site in Lviv cannot run at full capacity, but Kormotech owns a big amount of raw materials as well as already finished products.
“Our major concern now is with logistics, as the Russian military has severely damaged infrastructure in many parts of Ukraine. We have distributors across the country, but in some parts, they can’t transport our pet food because numerous roads were destroyed or blocked,” she said.
Before beginning of the war, Kormotech exported a big amount of its products to different European countries. For example, in 2021, Kormotech sold 66,000 tons of pet food and 20% of those were sold in other European countries.
Kormotech also created the initiative Save Pets of Ukraine to provide pet food.
“Many homes and shelters were damaged in explosions caused by Russian soldiers,” Kovalyuk-Burko said. “We decided to set up a center, operated by 25 persons, and tasked with physical deliveries of pet food to shelters, border guard outposts and other places with pets in need. As we speak, nine tons of pet food are on their way to shelters across Ukraine.”
To raise additional funds for the Save Pets of Ukraine initiative, next to the company’s three Ukrainian factories in Lithuania Kormotech runs another site to receive international donations.
“Many of our foreign partners have expressed readiness to help us save Ukrainian pets from the horrors of this war, and we hope to have this Lithuanian entity up and running in a few days,” Kovalyuk-Burko said. “We are very thankful for the numerous expressions of support from abroad in this time when Ukrainians and their pets are suffering from military aggression, and our goal is to help as much as we can.”
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