Ukraine's Kernel purchases grain terminal on Danube River

MOSCOW. March 6 (INTERFAX) - Kernel, one of Ukraine's largest agricultural holdings, purchased the Dunai Prom Agro river grain terminal in the Ukrainian port of Reni, Ukrainian media reported with a reference to the company's H1 2023 financial report for June-December 2022.

"The acquisition is part of the company's strategy to provide backup options in case the Black Sea ports become inaccessible as a result of the cancellation of the grain deal in March 2023," the report says.

The terminal has warehouses with a storage capacity of 12 thousand tonnes, it says.

"The Group intends to continue to invest in its activities in the port of Reni to expand its transshipment capacity. Investments will be attracted under the US Agency for International Development's Agricultural Sustainability Initiative, which agreed to purchase and supply equipment for an expansion of this type," Kernel's report says.

In addition, the holding announced that on March 3, 2023 it had closed a deal to sell a number of agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 134,000 hectares, infrastructure, equipment and working capital to companies associated with Kernel's largest shareholder and Chairman of the Board of Directors Andrei Verevskiy, "as it was announced in April 2022." This was preceded in February by the receipt of final consent from the company's creditors.

In April 2022, Kernel's Board of Directors approved the decision to give up part of its crop farms starting with 134,000 hectares of land and sell the assets to Verevskiy's companies for $210 million. The group explained this as a desire to reduce business risks and improve medium-term liquidity.