Kernel Group, which farms on over 400,000 ha in the Ukraine, is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and majority owned by Ukrainian billionaire Andrey Verevskiy, through his Cyprus investment vehicle Namsen Limited.
EBRD financing Ukrainian agriculture group
LONDON, ENGLAND — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced on June 17 that it is pledging additional resources to Ukraine’s agribusiness by participating in a $65 million working capital syndicated facility to Kernel Group, one of the largest vertically integrated agribusiness holdings in the country.
The EBRD’s financing amounts to $20 million. The facility will enable Kernel Group to secure working capital for its farming operations, and to obtain necessary pre-export financing for its own crop at a time when external funding to businesses in Ukraine is severely limited.
By signing this deal, the EBRD is implementing its Ukrainian Corporate Support Facility, approved by the bank in April 2014 and designed to provide assistance for existing Ukrainian clients. EBRD noted that this follows a syndicated facility of $230 million to Kernel Group, in which the bank participated in October 2014 by committing $50 million.
The EBRD said it is continuing to provide more resources to support agribusiness, a key growth driver of the Ukrainian economy. It has remained an important sector for the bank and attracted funding worth over €250 million in 2014 alone.
The EBRD is the largest international financial investor in Ukraine. As of May 1, 2015 the Bank had a total cumulative commitment of €10.94 billion in 343 projects in the country.
