FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

REINKE MANUFACTURING, INC. JOINS U.S.-UKRAINE BUSINESS COUNCIL (USUBC)
One of world's oldest and largest manufacturers of mechanized irrigation systems, Deshler, Nebraska

U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), Wash, D.C., Friday, July 16, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Reinke Manufacturing Company, Inc., Deshler, Nebraska, one of the world’s oldest and largest manufacturers of center pivot and lateral move irrigation systems, has been approved for membership in the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), the USUBC executive committee announced today on behalf of the entire USUBC membership of over 120 companies and organizations who have business operations, investments or other development programs in Ukraine.

Reinke’s products are used throughout the United States and Canada, and in more than 60 countries worldwide including Ukraine. Reinke provides state-of-the-art precision system monitoring and control using GPS and satellite-based communication devices, and a wide range of control panels and pipe materials for use in the agriculture and processed water industries. Reinke also manufactures one of the fastest growing lines of flatbed trailers and intermodal chassis.  .

Reinke’s main plant and corporate offices sit nestled in the heart of America in Deshler, Nebraska. The main plant and corporate offices cover approximately 80 acres with nine acres of manufacturing floor space. Here, members of the Reinke team use their decades of experience to produce the finest mechanized irrigation systems in the world, custom-designed to stand up to nearly any water condition and even the most demanding terrain.

FOUNDER RICHARD REINKE
Richard Reinke never set out to be a legend. He founded Reinke Manufacturing in 1954 on a family farm in the nation’s Heartland (Nebraska). The reasons for Reinke’s success are many, but expertise and enterprise sit at the top of the list. Mr. Reinke is credited with creating products that are now held as standards in the irrigation industry throughout the world.

Richard Reinke’s vision and innovation are keys to the company’s success. Reinke pioneered mechanized irrigation technology. Among the breakthroughs: designing the world’s first reversible, electric-gear-driven center pivot system, the first span over 100 feet and patenting the first V-jack truss design. The list of Reinke’s irrigation technology continues to grow. Today, Reinke holds more than 30 worldwide patents. This pioneering spirit remains strong. Reinke is committed to continually evolving as an irrigation industry leader.

JIM GREWE, VICE PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL SALES
Jim Grewe, Vice President, International Sales, in Deshler, NE will represent Reinke on the USUBC board of directors.  Jim said Reinke has been selling their equipment in Ukraine now for several years and believe the Ukrainian market for world-class irrigation equipment will expand significantly in the near future.  Reinke's sales representative for all of Eastern Europe is Oleg Alexandrov. Oleg has worked for Reinke for two years and lives in and travels out of Nebraska.

TWO DISTRIBUTORS IN UKRAINE: Gidro-Profi LLC & Imperial Agro, LTD
Reinke's top-line irrigation equipment is sold and serviced in Ukraine by two official agri-business distributors. Reinke distributor GIDRO-PROFI LLC is headquartered in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.  Evgeniy Shirokih is the General Director and Olexiy Panfilov is the Deputy Director. Information about Gidro-Profi can be found at www.Gidro-Profi.com.  E-mail contact is: Evgeniy Shirokih: gidro-profi (at) mail.ru and Olexiy Panfilov: gprofialex (at) gmail.com.

The second Reinke distributor IMPERIAL AGRO, LTD is located in Kherson, Ukraine. The two company officials are Joseph Parker, from Florence, Kentucky and Alexander Gordenko in Kherson.  Joe Parker has been involved in agribusiness development in southern Ukraine now for over 18 years.  E-mail contact is: JoePark (at) aol.com and AlexanderGordenko (at) yandex.ru.

NEBRASKA, KANSAS AND THE GREAT PLAINS
"Being from Kansas and working in the field of international agri-business development for many years I have known about Reinke's outstanding irrigation equipment for a long time," said Morgan Williams, director, government affairs, Washington office, for the SigmaBleyzer private equity investment management group, who serves as president of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC).   

"Ukraine made a great contribution to Kansas and the Great Plains states when in 1874 immigrant settlers from Southern Ukraine settled in Hillsboro, Kansas and brought with them Turkey hard red winter wheat seed.  This variety of wheat was much better than anything found in the U.S. at the time.  By 1900 several improved varieties of Turkey hard red winter wheat had taken over most of the wheat production in the Great Plains from Texas to Canada.  This advancement was a great economic boom to the region," according to Williams.

"USUBC is very pleased to add another locally grown agricultural equipment manufacturing and distribution company from the heartland of the United States to our membership and we look forward to working with VP Jim Grewe and his colleagues.  Other small to medium sized companies who are members of USUBC from the Great Plains states include Amity Technology, Fargo, North Dakota, Great Plains Manufacturing Inc, Salina, Kansas; Bueling, Inc., North Dakota, and Air Tractor, Inc., Olney, Texas.  

REINKE INFORMATION: For more information on Reinke Manufacturing irrigation equipment products, visit www.reinke.com or contact Vice President Jim Grewe, e-mail: JimGrewe (at) reinke.com or Eastern Europe sales representative Oleg Alexandrov, e-mail: olegalexandrov (at) reinke.com.

USUBC AGRIBUSINESS WORKING GROUP
USUBC has a very active Agribusiness Working Group.  The major issue of the working group these days is the huge Value-Added-Tax (VAT) refund issue where private companies are owed hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid VAT refunds by the government of Ukraine.  Members of the Agribusiness Working Group include: Agro NovaNyva (SigmaBleyzer); Air Tractor, Inc.; AMACO; Archer Daniels Midland (ADM); AGCO/Massey Ferguson; Amity Technology, Inc; Bueling, Inc.; Bunge; Cargill; Case New Holland; Dreyfus Commodities; Equipment Direct; Great Plains Manufacturing, Inc.; Horizon Capital /Emerging Europe Growth Fund (Agro-Soyuz Corporation); John Deere; Kraft; Kyiv-Atlantic Ukraine; Landkom International; Nobel Resources Ukraine LLC; Reinke Manufacturing, Inc.; SE Raelin/Cajo, Inc; and WJ Group/PolyGrain.

USUBC MEMBERSHIP NOW OVER 120 AND STILL GROWING
One-Hundred Twenty Members, July 2010, Membership in January of 2007 was 22. 
The complete list of USUBC members can be found at: http://www.usubc.org/members.php. 

SENIOR ADVISORS TO USUBC- 2010
[1]  Anders Aslund, Senior Fellow
Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington, D.C.
 
[2]  Ariel Cohen, Ph.D, Senior Research Fellow
Allison Center for International Studies,
Davis Institute for International Studies,
The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C.
 
[3]  Keith Crane, Senior Economist
Rand Corporation, Washington, D.C.

[4]  James Greene, President
Effective Engagement Strategies, LLC, Washington, D.C.
Former Head, NATO Liaison Office Ukraine

[5]  Anatoliy Kinakh, Head
League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Ukraine
Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine

[6]  David Kramer, Senior Transatlantic Fellow
The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Washington, D.C.
 
[7]  Leonid Kozachenko, President
Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation (UAC), Kyiv, Ukraine

[8]  William Green Miller, Senior Policy Scholar
Woodrow Wilson Center,  Washington, D.C.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine

[9]  Steven Pifer, Senior Fellow
The Brookings Institution
Senior Advisor, Russia & Eurasia Program, CSIS, Washington, D.C.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine
 
[10]  Dr. Edilberto Segura, Partner, Chief Economist
SigmaBleyzer Private Equity Investment Group
Chair of the Advisory Board of The Bleyzer Foundation, Kyiv, Ukraine
 
[11]  Keith Smith, Senior Associate
Europe Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Former U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania, Washington, D.C.  

[12]  William B. Taylor, Jr., Vice President, Peace & Stability Operations
United States Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine

[13]  Damon Wilson, Vice President
Atlantic Council of the United States, Washington, D.C.

[14] James Wilson, Director
EU Ukraine Business Council (EUUBC), Brussels, Belgium

USUBC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD
OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
For Year 2010 (http://www.usubc.org/excommittee.php)

[1]  Margarita Karpenko, Managing Partner
DLA Piper Ukraine LLC, Kyiv, Ukraine

[2]  Michael E. Kirst, Regional Vice President
Central/Eastern Europe and Russia
Westinghouse Electric Company, Brussels, Belgium

[3]  John R. Miller, Director,
International Business Development, Europe, Israel, Sub-Sahara
Raytheon International, Inc., Arlington, VA

[4]  Dr. Irina Paliashvili, President and Senior Counsel
RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group, P.A., Washington, D.C./Kyiv, Ukraine

[5]  Andrew A. Pidgirsky, Chairman, Board of Governors,
Ukrainian American Bar Association (UABA), Houston, TX

[6]  Samir B. Sahgal, Director, International Operations
Washington, D.C. Operations, The Boeing Company, Arlington, VA
            Treasurer, USUBC

[7]  Diana Sedney
Manager, International Government Relations
Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron Government Affairs
Chevron, Washington, D.C.

[8]  John F. Steele, Director, International Government Affairs
Eli Lilly and Company, Washington, D.C.

[9]  Vanessa Stiffler-Claus, Director, International Affairs
John Deere Public Affairs Worldwide, John Deere, Washington, D.C.

[10]  Patrick H. Sweet, President
Sweet Analysis Services, Inc. (SASI), Alexandria, VA

[11]  E. Morgan Williams, Director, Government Affairs, Washington Office
SigmaBleyzer Private Equity Investment Group, Washington, D.C.
           Chairman, Executive Committee, USUBC, President/CEO, USUBC

[12]  Van A. Yeutter, Vice President, Corporate Affairs
Cargill, Washington, D.C.

[13]  Jack I. Heller, Attorney at Law
Heller & Rosenblatt, Washington, D.C.
           Legal Counsel, USUBC
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