The large-scale all-Ukrainian agricultural conference VICTORY HARVEST has begun!
The VICTORY HARVEST conference is being held for the second time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The large farming community gathers not only to express gratitude to the Howard Buffett Foundation for its immense support during the challenging times caused by Russia’s full-scale aggression but also to discuss future plans, exchange experiences, and address questions to representatives of the Ukrainian government.
Upon arriving in Ukraine to participate in VICTORY HARVEST, American billionaire Howard Buffett celebrated his birthday in the country for the second time.
In an on-stage interview with journalist Natalia Humeniuk at the conference, Buffett shared that he had understood from the start that the war in Ukraine would last more than just a few months. He emphasized the vital role of Ukrainian partners, who have been instrumental in the successful implementation of the Buffett Foundation’s initiatives. According to him, these are people who can be trusted.
In the interview, Buffett also announced plans for The Howard G. Buffett Foundation to expand its involvement in humanitarian demining programs in 2025.
Given the vast areas of landmines, he noted that traditional demining methods could take no less than 100 years to complete.
The philanthropist unveiled joint innovative solutions proposed by Ukrainian farmers through the Buffett Foundation in collaboration with renowned American companies Caterpillar Inc. (Cat), a leader in construction and engineering machinery, and Deere & Company (John Deere), a major agricultural equipment manufacturer.
Buffett emphasized that the United States wants to see Ukraine succeed and remains committed to supporting the country. He assured that the foundation will not reduce its support for Ukraine in 2025, continuing to develop all existing initiatives and introducing new ones.
As is known, The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, founded in 1999, intensified its activities in Ukraine at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. The foundation’s work in Ukraine includes addressing food security, ensuring energy security, supporting demining efforts, and aiding in the investigation of war crimes related to agriculture.
The foundation has established and is implementing several large-scale initiatives, including the Victory Harvest Foundation, which provides agricultural machinery to small and medium-sized farms in regions affected by Russian aggression free of charge. The foundation also implements projects to clear agricultural lands of mines.
"‘Victory Harvest’ is not just equipment and metal. It’s the people who work in the farms, using that machinery. Without their work, food prices would have skyrocketed both in Ukraine and around the world. From a single grain grown, an entire village in Kherson, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Kyiv regions can be revived," stated Dmitro Solomchuk, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the foundation, from the stage at VICTORY HARVEST. He noted that Russian terrorists destroyed agriculture despite it posing no threat to their tanks and armored vehicles.
"They destroyed livestock, which posed no danger either. Why? Because Russia has long wanted and continues to seek to manipulate food on the world stage for political dividends. Thanks to Ukrainian farmers who continue to clear the landmines, sow seeds, and harvest crops, Ukraine provides bread for itself and for other countries," he said.
"While Moscow is deprived of the opportunity to carry out its manipulations," summarized Dmitro Solomchuk.
During the Victory Harvest Foundation's work in Ukraine from 2022 to 2024, farmers received support for cultivating nearly 468,190 hectares of land, which is equivalent to the grain harvest needed to provide bread for nearly 18 million Ukrainians. Over this period, 2,230 requests from farmers have been processed. Since 2022, the volume of support provided by the foundation has increased 12 times, enabling assistance for cultivating 307,670 hectares of agricultural land in 2024.
The volume of support provided by the Victory Harvest Foundation to farmers in the Kherson region is equivalent to over 200,000 hectares of demined land, which will allow for additional sowing of more than 200,000 hectares of land in the spring of 2025.
By providing agricultural machinery free of charge, the foundation helped Ukrainian farmers save nearly 1 billion UAH (25 million USD). The saved funds were reinvested in restoring buildings, processing, and demining activities.
Dmitro Solomchuk expressed gratitude to philanthropist Howard Buffett, emphasizing that he provides real support, not just promises for the future. As a memento of the anniversary that the patron celebrated in Ukraine, the head of the Victory Harvest Foundation’s supervisory board presented Buffett with a protective talisman—a decorated horseshoe, made by a craftsman from Sloviansk—on stage at the VICTORY HARVEST conference.
Announcing the foundation’s planned activities for 2025, Dmitro Solomchuk spoke about opportunities for farmers to receive bulldozers from CATERPILLAR free of charge. Additionally, starting in February, the foundation will begin accepting applications for John Deere crawler tractors, which are more stable than wheeled tractors, particularly when it comes to detecting "butterfly" mines that might be in the soil. The foundation will also provide Ukrainian farmers with specialized devices for harvesting rapeseed—"rapeseed tables." These devices are installed on combine headers and help significantly reduce grain loss during rapeseed harvesting. Applications will be accepted starting in June 2025.