Brazil Buys Insulin From Ukraine

Kyiv, May 30, 2012. Brazil state pharmaceutical group Farmanguinhos/Fiocruz signed a purchase contract with Ukrainian insulin producer Indar for 3.5 million vials of genetically engineered human insulin Humodar. While Brazilian experts stated that they chose their Ukrainian partner based on quality of their product, Indar CEO Liubov Vyshnevska noted that the Latin American market was one of the most promising for Ukrainian export.

Since Ukrainian insulin entered the Brazilian market the prices for the hormone decreased fivefold. Ukraine and Brazil also have a preliminary agreement to establish bilateral insulin production in Brazil by 2014. The local factory will use Ukrainian technology.

Brazil is Ukraine’s largest trade partner in Latin America. Bilateral trade cooperation between the two countries includes such areas as gas transporting equipment, ships, and planes. Additionally, two countries trade energy,, metallurgy, agricultural machinery, electric welding, geological exploration, oil and gas pipe construction, IT, and pharmaceuticals.

Most notable aspect of Ukraine-Brazil cooperation at the moment is Alcantara Cyclone Space project. The binational platform is financially beneficial for the parties due to its close proximity to the equator (2°17′S 44°23′W). The cost of rocket launch from this location is 20 percent less than average.

In 2011 Ukraine exported to Brazil goods worth USD 472.6 million which is 31 percent more than in 2010, reported the Ukrainian state statistics service. Brazilian export to Ukraine, on the other hand, amounted to USD 543 million in the same year, demonstrating 18 percent growth compared to 2010.

Over the first four months of 2012 Ukraine imported nearly the same amount of goods from Brazil – worth USD 107.5 million – as in the respective period of 2011. Ukrainian export to Brazil in January-April 2012 reached USD 44 million.

Interestingly, Ukrainian diaspora is Brazil is one of the oldest immigrant ethnic groups in the country and is quite large – 500,000 persons. One of the most outstanding personalities in immigration is a poet and writer Vira Vovk. Holder of multiple literary prizes, she left Ukraine after the World War II and has been promoting Ukrainian language and culture across the globe ever since.