About

Agroecology is the oldest Ukrainian company with implemented organic technologies in its work, and today the company’s crop sector and livestock sector is modern, developed and well equipped technologically. Agroecology’s highly regarded legal team is led by head of the legal department Denys Melnykov, who is mostly in charge of trial work and securing the interest of Agroecology during transactions with regard to due diligence. Senior legal counsel Oleksandr Ostapushenko is another important team member and certified land surveyor who participates in the peaceful settlement of disputes and provides land measuring works in accordance with all the local legislation requirements. Legal counsel Liudmyla Horbachevska has ‘developed high competency in mediation’ and ‘her empathy and diplomacy help her in the peaceful settlement of disputes, finding new land plots and signing new agreements to increase the land bank of the company’, according to Melnykov. Assistant Denys Kryvenko, office administrator Julia Kulyk, and IT support Stanislav Ostapushenko were also highlighted by Melnykov as playing important roles in the department. In the last two years, the team has fully shifted the approach to the land bank managing and accounting changes. In a major adjustment for the company, all the information about lands rented by Agroecology is now entered in electronic register consolidated with local accounting books and integrated with Google Maps and the Public Cadastral Map of Ukraine. ‘This is the platform for the implementation of precision farming using precise GPS navigation’ says Melnykov, adding, ‘more than 1,500 rent agreements have been updated, systemised and archived by the team, [with] its electronic copies stored in the cloud’. The team has also learned and actively use mediation in its daily duties as it helps to find compromises with partners and helps to hold company performance at the highest level. ‘Our team works with locals to increase their awareness with new legislation and company news’, adds Melnykov. In addition to this in the last two years, the legal department has signed more than 1,000 rent agreements for the period of 15 years. They successfully closed deals regarding the purchasing of a mill, modern agro-equipment and land plots. The team also has a wide experience of effective defense in the Ukrainian courts including the Supreme Court. Melnykov was also keen to highlight the team’s achievements with regard to handling disputes: ‘We also took part in more than 50 trials. Peaceful settlement of disputes [were achieved in] cases thanks to teamwork and mediation. Today, more than 40% of disputes were resolved by the mediation procedure. This is the significant approach for the team [and] helped to save money for the company’.