The VITAGRO Group of companies began exporting Ukrainian biomethane to the European Union. The group's biomethane plant, which had been built between 2022 and 2024, started production in September 2024. Prior to that, the company was injecting biomethane into Ukraine's gas transmission system.
ERU, together with its partners, transported the biomethane from the Ukrainian-Slovak border to Germany.
On February 7, 2025, for the first time, biomethane produced by Vitagro in Ukraine from 100% livestock waste was exported to Germany in a "test delivery" of 720 MWh (~68,000 m³). The Vitagro plant was expected to produce 3 million m³ (~30,000 MWh) of biomethane annually, which would be equivalent to the annual gas consumption of 2,000 German households.
VITAGRO was a leader among Ukrainian companies in this sector and had already been considering further investment opportunities. The growing demand for sustainable biomethane in the EU, along with rising carbon emission prices, had made this market increasingly attractive for Ukrainian producers and foreign investors. "We already have a plan for the further development of biomethane projects," said Serhiy Savchuk, Director of Investments and Business Development at Vitagro Group.
ERU was involved in gas supply, trading, and energy solutions in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Willem Coppoolse, the group's director, commented:
"Thanks to our flexible and proactive market, financial, and logistics expertise, ERU unlocked the full potential of Ukrainian biomethane. We were confident that this test delivery would help finalize all the details for the acceptance of Ukrainian biomethane in the EU market."
The legal advisor for the agreement on the producer's side was CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang, led by Vitaliy Radchenko.
Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Energy, Mykola Kolysnyk, noted that the first export of Ukrainian biomethane was the result of efforts to harmonize Ukrainian and European legislation and an important step toward fully replacing Russian gas in the European market.
"At present, cooperation in the energy sector with our European colleagues is a priority for the government, and such agreements indicated that Ukraine would become a reliable partner for Europe. We were actively working on obtaining a positive decision from the European Commission regarding the possibility for Ukrainian producers to operate through the Union Data Base," said Kolysnyk.
The Chairman of the Bioenergy Association of Ukraine, Georgiy Geletukha, believed that the first export of biomethane to Europe opened up an extremely promising market for Ukrainian businesses, and Ukraine would play a leading role in ensuring Europe's energy independence. "We have the potential to become a reliable supplier of biomethane to the European market," said Geletukha.
Andriy Zhupanyn, the author of the laws that defined the concept of biomethane and effectively opened up the possibility for its export, emphasized that the production of Ukrainian biomethane and its export to foreign markets was supported by a constitutional majority of lawmakers.
"In times of war and post-war recovery, Ukraine aimed to implement as many projects as possible that would bring foreign currency into the country. The Ukrainian parliament would not stop at what had been achieved, and many important decisions were ahead that would contribute to the further development of the Ukrainian biomethane market. This was also crucial for strengthening the energy independence of our European partners," added Zhupanyn.
About Vitagro Energy: A subsidiary of the VITAGRO Group, which invests in energy and manages the group's energy assets. The company was founded in 2018 and operated solar power plants with a capacity of 15.6 MW, a bioethanol production plant, and a biomethane plant.
About the VITAGRO Group of Companies: VITAGRO was one of the largest industrial groups in Ukraine with assets in agriculture, energy, manufacturing, construction, and chemical industries. It was founded in 1998 and operated in Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, Volyn, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Kyiv regions. The group managed about 90,000 hectares of land and engaged in livestock farming, horticulture, renewable energy, fertilizer and compound feed production, as well as construction and the production of building materials. The VITAGRO headquarters was located in Khmelnytskyi.
