State-owned Oschadbank (Kyiv) and one of the largest grain market operators in Ukraine, JV Nibulon LLC, have agreed on a series of new loan agreements to replenish working capital, which refinance the company’s investments totaling $20.3 million, the first part of this loan program for $13 million has already been signed, the bank’s press service reports.
According to the report, Nibulon will use the funds to restore working capital after investing in the construction of a new transshipment terminal on the Danube. The Bessarabian branch began operations in 2022 and became the main route for exporting agricultural products, which was crucial in the context of the aggressor’s blockade of Ukrainian seaports in previous periods.
“The replenishment of working capital guarantees Nibulon’s ability to fully support the procurement campaign for the 2024/25 season and support the Ukrainian farmer in times of war,” the bank said, adding that after heavy losses and a difficult return to stability, the company was able to gain momentum and develop an ecosystem that will ensure sustainable food security.
“Nibulon has been a long-standing and reliable partner for us for over 6 years. It is one of the pillars of the country’s food potential, including exports. To date, the company’s total loan portfolio in Oschad is already almost UAH 2 billion. Given that Oschadbank has a high level of liquidity, we are ready to continue financial support for Nibulon in all its initiatives to restore its leadership positions in global markets lost due to the full-scale war,” said Yuriy Katsiyon, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Oschadbank in charge of corporate business, during the signing of the agreement.
The agroholding noted that the support of the real economy by state-owned banks is evidence of the government’s consistent adaptation of its policy to the conditions of a full-scale war and its real focus on helping businesses.
“We see changes. We see a targeted state policy of supporting domestic business in action. This is a direct recognition of the critical role of strategic enterprises for the further development of Ukraine and a guarantee of our successful future,” said Andriy Vadatursky, CEO of Nibulon. Andriy Vadatursky, CEO of Nibulon.
“We are grateful to Oschadbank for its systematic and consistent support of us, representatives of companies in the sector that ensures the country’s food security. At the very beginning of the full-scale war, Oschadbank provided Nibulon with additional funding for the 2022/2023 sowing campaign to prevent a food crisis that the aggressor was trying to create. In 2023, Oschadbank was one of the first to restructure Nibulon’s pre-war loan to support the company, which suffered losses due to the destruction of infrastructure during the hostilities, the blocking of sea routes from the port of Mykolaiv, and the forced reorientation to other logistics routes. And now we have new funding that we will use for the procurement campaign to support small and medium-sized agricultural producers,” said Vitalina Marchenko, Head of Nibulon’s Banking Department.
As reported earlier, Nibulon Group has more than 25 Ukrainian and foreign creditors, with the vast majority of whom have already signed restructuring agreements.
Nibulon JV LLC was established in 1991. Prior to the Russian military invasion, the grain trader had 27 transshipment terminals and crop reception complexes, capacity to store 2.25 million tons of agricultural products at a time, a fleet of 83 vessels (including 23 tugs), and owned the Mykolaiv Shipyard.
“Before the war, Nibulon cultivated 82 thousand hectares of land in 12 regions of Ukraine and exported agricultural products to more than 70 countries. In 2021, the grain trader exported the highest ever 5.64 million tons of agricultural products, reaching record volumes of supplies to foreign markets in August – 0.7 million tons, in the fourth quarter – 1.88 million tons, and in the second half of the year – 3.71 million tons.
Nibulon’s losses due to Russia’s full-scale military invasion in 2022 exceeded $416 million.
Currently, the grain trader is operating at 32% of capacity, has created a special unit to clear agricultural land of mines, and has been forced to move its headquarters from Mykolaiv to Kyiv.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), as of July 1, 2024, Oschadbank ranked 2nd (UAH 435.06 billion) in terms of total assets among 62 banks in the country. Last year, the financial institution’s net profit amounted to UAH 5.98 billion.
Slobozhanshchyna Agro, a subsidiary of IMC, has raised UAH 100 million under the government’s soft loan program Affordable Loans 5-7-9% from PrivatBank (Kyiv).
“Since the beginning of the war, financing agricultural production has become a priority for us. The bank systematically supports and will continue to support Ukrainian agribusinesses operating in the frontline and de-occupied regions,” Yevhen Zaigraev, Board Member for Corporate Business and SMEs, said in a press release.
It is noted that the financing will allow Slobozhanshchyna Agro to maintain its business activities in the frontline region of the country for a year.
Zaigraiev added that the company continues to operate in the Sumy region, where there are still high military risks.
“Thanks to this, the company received a more favorable interest rate under the guarantees of the CMU (Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine – IF-U),” the release said.
“MK is an integrated group of companies operating in Sumy, Poltava and Chernihiv regions (north and center of Ukraine) in the crop production, elevators and warehouses segments. The company’s land bank is about 120 thousand hectares in Poltava, Chernihiv and Sumy regions, with storage capacity of 554 thousand tons for the 2023 harvest of 1.002 million tons.
This year, the company purchased 140 Ukrainian-made railcars, and in early August, for the first time, it shipped its products to ports in its own grain cars. According to Privat, the company ships 60-70 thousand tons of grain to ports by rail every month.
In the first half of 2024, IMC Agro Holding increased its net profit by 2.4 times year-on-year to $21.52 million, while its revenue increased by 51% to $108.32 million, while the share of exports decreased slightly to 81.3% from 81.9% a year earlier.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, as of August 1 this year, PrivatBank ranked first in terms of total assets (UAH 895.26 billion) among 62 banks operating in the country. The financial institution’s net profit last year amounted to UAH 37.76 billion.
Nova Poshta LLC has taken out a $20 million loan from Credit Agricole Bank to buy out a cargo and postal terminal in Lviv region to improve the company’s logistics capacities in western Ukraine.
“The loan term is five years. The money will be used to develop a logistics hub in Lviv,” Nova Poshta said in a statement on Monday.
It is specified that the loan funds will also be used to automate and install new modern sorting lines, which will triple the hub’s capacity.
“This is not the first loan to Nova Poshta from Credit Agricole, and the new agreement is a consistent development of our strategic cooperation. When the time comes to finance large-scale international projects, we want to have a reliable credit reputation with leading European banks,” Petro Fokov, CFO of NOVA Group, said in the release.
Nova Poshta LLC, the largest logistics operator in Ukraine from the NOVA group, intends to acquire Nova Development LLC (Sokilnyky village, Lviv district, Lviv region), whose main activity is the lease and operation of its own or leased real estate.
As reported, at the end of February this year, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine granted Nova Poshta permission to purchase more than 50% of Nova Development, the legal successor of Best Logistics Group, which was engaged in the construction and leasing of logistics complexes and was part of the full-cycle development holding Globus.
“Best Logistics Group has already cooperated with Nova Poshta during the construction of a sorting terminal in Lviv in 2019, with investments of almost EUR 10 million, with Nova Poshta’s investment of approximately EUR 4 million. According to Vyacheslav Klimov, co-founder of NOVA Group, Nova Poshta was responsible for the equipment, while Best Logistics Group was responsible for the construction of the building.
The authorized capital of Nova Development, according to the state register, is UAH 186.4 million, while that of Best Logistics Group was UAH 1 million. Volodymyr Fenyk is listed as a beneficiary through the corporate venture investment fund Magistrate Invest.
According to Nova Poshta’s report for the first half of 2024, its debt to banks as of the middle of this year amounted to UAH 3.4 billion, including UAH 489.2 million to a subsidiary of a French bank, UAH 1 billion 474.6 million to an Austrian bank, UAH 420.3 million to a Hungarian bank, and UAH 4.4 million to a German bank, as well as two loans from a Ukrainian bank worth UAH 747.7 million.
In the first half of 2024, Nova Poshta LLC increased its unconsolidated net income by 20.1% to UAH 20.12 billion, but the company’s net profit decreased by 38.1% to UAH 1.49 billion.
Germany, together with the G7 countries, will provide Ukraine with a 50 billion euro loan, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday.
“Germany is and remains the strongest supporter of Ukraine in Europe. And we are continuing our support with a €50 billion loan that we are launching with the G7. This will allow Ukraine to buy weapons on a massive scale. It can build on this,” the Federal Chancellor wrote on the social network X.
As reported earlier, G7 leaders approved an agreement to transfer $50 billion of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.
State-owned Oschadbank (Kyiv) has signed the first loan agreement for UAH 28.7 million at 9% per annum under the Affordable Loans 5-7-9% program for the installation of a 2.5 MW gas reciprocating power plant, the financial institution’s website reports.
“The client, which supplies raw materials to many Ukrainian producers of essential goods, will receive a loan of UAH 28.7 million for a period of 5 years. The capacity of the plant is 2.5 MW; this will secure production in case of a prolonged power outage,” the press release says.
The bank did not disclose the name of the company.
As reported, in the second decade of July, the government launched lending to entrepreneurs and businesses under the Affordable Loans 5-7-9 program for the purchase and installation of gas turbine, gas piston or biogas generating units. The maximum loan amount is up to UAH 150 million and the loan term is up to 10 years.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), as of June 1, 2024, Oschadbank ranked 2nd (UAH 415.82 billion) in terms of total assets among 63 banks in the country. Last year, the financial institution’s net profit amounted to UAH 5.98 billion.
Last week, Energoatom signed a loan agreement for 181 million pounds with a consortium of international banks, including Deutsche Bank and Barclays Bank, the company said in a telegram on Tuesday.
The loan proceeds under the contract between Energoatom and Urenco will be used to finance the supply of nuclear materials – enriched and natural uranium hexafluoride.
The loan is for five years. The guarantee is provided by the UK government through the UK Export Finance (UKEF) export credit agency. No state guarantees are provided by Ukraine.
As reported, in November 2023, Energoatom and Urenco signed a contract for the supply of enriched uranium product for Ukrainian NPPs until 2035, with the possibility of its extension until 2043.
In addition, the parties have two contracts in place until 2025, under which NNEGC supplies the British company with nuclear materials.
