Ukraine's Astarta agroholding resumes project for advanced processing of soybeans at $60 mln

MOSCOW. Nov 13 (Interfax) - Astarta agricultural holding, Ukraine's largest sugar producer, is resuming construction of an additional line for advanced processing of soybeans at the Globino processing plant, Ukrainian media reported, citing Yulia Bereschenko, the group's director for business development and investor relations.

"The project was announced in 2021 at a cost of $50 million, and it is now [estimated] at around $60 million, accounting for inflation," Bereschenko said during an online meeting with investors and analysts on the company's results for the first nine months of 2023. Audio of the conference call is posted on Astarta's website.

The line's capacity will be up to 100,000 tonnes of concentrated soy protein per year.

Construction will resume before the end of this year.

According to Bereschenko, investments will be distributed over three years during 2023-2025, and it is planned to finance the project "primarily through free cash flow".

Astarta announced the start of construction of the line in September 2021. Bereschenko at the time emphasized that installation of an additional line for advanced processing of soybeans would allow the group to double EBITDA in the soybean segment, as well as increase revenue.

The soybean processing plant was commissioned in early 2014 in the town of Globino, with design capacity of 230,000 tonnes per year to process and produce approximately 160,000 tonnes of high-protein soybean meal, 40,000 tonnes of soybean oil, and 9,000 tonnes of hull granules. The enterprise also includes storage facilities for finished products and a grain elevator with capacity of 42,000 tonnes.

Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding that includes sugar factories, agricultural enterprises, dairy farms, an oil extraction plant, grain elevators, and a biogas complex.

The family of founder and CEO Victor Ivanchik, who controlled 29.21% through Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. at the end of the first quarter 2023, is the main shareholder of Astarta. Kopernik Global Investors owns 2.64%, Heptagon Capital owns 1.88%, and Metlife PTE SA owns 0.62%.