In a press release issued on Thursday, LDC said it was not trying to cause problems in Perutnina's sale to the MHP group, which submitted a binding bid, but was acting in the interest of EU consumers.

A day after MHP's press conference, LDC denied the claim that it was not serious about its bid to buy the Slovenian poultry company and that it submitted one only after learning about the deal with MHP.

LDC, Europe's largest poultry group, said it had started talks with Perutnina's current owner, the Russian-owned Slovenian steel group SIJ, in spring and had an exclusive right until the end of 2018.

"Throughout that period, we were acting in good faith and constructively in a bid to conclude the talks for the benefit of all stakeholders, including Perutnina Ptuj.

"We are not aware of the reasons why SIJ broke off the talks or why the seller had changed its mind and withdrew from previous agreements," the French company said.

LDC said that Ukrainian poultry producers were benefiting from low production costs and were increasing poultry meat exports to the EU while abusing the free trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine.

It said the Ukrainian companies exported semi-processed products (chicken breasts with a single wing) to their processing hubs in the EU where they cut them up and repackage with a made-in-the-EU label.

According to LDC, the practice is being investigated by the European poultry producers' association and the European Commission.

The French company believes that MHP plans to boost such practice, considering the announcement by non-executive director John Rich yesterday that MHP planned to make the Ptuj company into its hub for exports to western Europe.

Rich said that the Ukrainian company was planning to have sustainable production in Slovenia, as well as local breeding, processing and sales.

By contrast, LDC believes that such a hub would mean "further unchecked growth of Ukrainian poultry meat exports to EU markets, including Slovenia, creating unfair competition to European producers".

LDC says that Ukrainian poultry meat exports to the EU rose by 70% year-on-year between January and August this year.

MHP is conducting due diligence at Perutnina Ptuj and waiting for a regulatory approval in Slovenia and Romania, having already acquired clearance in Austria, Macedonia and Serbia.

Rich said that MHP was satisfied with the Slovenian company's operations and that in the case of a takeover, was planning to invest "hundreds of millions of US dollars" in Perutnina within five years.

Perutnina, which employs 3,600 people, generated EUR 257m in revenue last year, an increase of 4.8% from the year before, while EBITDA dropped by 5.3% to EUR 24.4m.

Net sales revenue in the first half of this year was up by 7% year-on-year to EUR 132m, the company reported, adding that exports to European markets in particular had been up in recent years.