Newly sown fields, well-kept houses and modern farms -- the rural area surrounding Koryukovka settlement shines like a pearl among the string of abandoned villages in a remote corner of Ukraine's northern Chernigov region.
After experiencing labour force outflow for decades, Koryukovka gained new life in 2013, when it attracted the interest of investors from Central China's Henan province.
The Chinese state-owned Huangfanqu Farm entered into a joint venture called Fanda with a Ukrainian partner and has already invested more than 10 million U.S. dollars in the development of farming in Koryukovka district, changing the lives of locals.
REANIMATION OF LIVESTOCK FARM
"Since the Chinese company started to finance us, we have significantly increased the number of livestock and boosted the productivity of our cattle," Olga Ruchko, a technician at the Koryukovka livestock farm, told Xinhua.
Standing proudly in front of the modern farm, Ruchko was not trying to hide her pleasure with the Chinese investors.
In 2013, the farm in Koryukovka faced a threat of closure because the previous owners failed to provide enough funds even for buying protein-rich feeds for cows to help the animals produce enough milk and gain weight.
"Previously, we could not afford good feeds and our livestock has not got enough nutrition. But now, with Chinese financing, we buy everything we need -- oil cakes and concentrated feeding stuff for cows and mixed cattle feed for calves," Ruchko said.
Due to better feeding and improved animal welfare after the renovation of the farm, the daily milk output per cow has increased from 10 to 22 liters.
Chinese investment has helped double the livestock at the farm to 2,000 cows and calves and provided jobs to about 100 residents of Koryukovka.
The farmers sell about 9 tons of fresh milk to local cheese producing plants per day. They also provide free milk to a local kindergarten.
"Currently, we supply milk as a raw material, but the company plans to build its own processing plant to produce finished products," Viktor Yushchenko, chairman of Gorky enterprise, which runs the Koryukovka farm, told Xinhua.
