Kernel, one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural holdings, bought the Danube Prom Agro river terminal in the Ukrainian port of Reni on the Danube in February 2023, according to the company’s semi-annual report.
“The terminal has flat warehouses with a single storage capacity of 12,000 tons, and the acquisition is part of the company’s strategy to provide backup options in case Black Sea ports become unavailable as a result of the March 2023 grain deal being terminated,” the agri-holding said.
It noted that it intends to continue investing in its operations in the port of Reni to expand transshipment capacity, and such investments will be attracted by the USAID Sustainable Agriculture Initiative, which has agreed to purchase and supply the equipment needed for such expansion.
In addition, Kernel announced that on March 3, 2023, it closed the sale of a number of farms with a 134,000-hectare land bank, as well as related agricultural infrastructure, equipment and working capital, to companies associated with Kernel’s largest shareholder and board chairman, Andriy Verevsky, as announced in April 2022. This was preceded in February by the final approval of creditors to complete the transaction.
Oleg Vlasenko was the beneficiary of Danube Prom Agro, according to information in the state register. The company’s revenues in 2020 were 1.86 million hryvnia, and its assets at the end of the year were 4.73 million hryvnia.
In April 2022, Kernel’s board of directors decided to divest some of its 134 thsd ha crop farms and sell the assets to Verevskyy companies for $210 mln. The company announced that it wanted to reduce business risks and improve medium-term liquidity amid Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
As reported, in the first half of FY 2023 (July-December 2022), Kernel decreased its net profit by 12.6% YoY to $370.31 million, while revenues fell by 41.3% to $1 billion 889.78 million.
Nibulon will invest $19 million in construction of a river transshipment terminal in Ternivka (Zaporizhia region).
According to a posting on the company’s website, the launch of the terminal is scheduled for June 2019.
Along with the terminal, the project envisages construction of a berth of over 3 km long and dredging works on the Ploska Osokorivka River.
The company said that the terminal will hire 120 employees and will pay over UAH 2.7 million of taxes to the local budget a year.
The terminal will be third for the company in Zaporizhia region.
Nibulon was established in 1991. It is one of the largest operators in the grain market of the country. Nibulon cultivates 83,000 hectares. It exports agricultural products to more than 60 countries of the world. The annual export volume exceeds 4.5 million tonnes.
