The European Investment Bank, or EIB, has agreed to lend 250 million euros to Ukraine’s Kernel Group, one of the country’s top three agribusiness holdings.
The loan is supposed to support the expansion of Kernel’s seed-oil production, significantly improve its logistics structure, finance the construction of biomass power plants and increase storage capacity across several regions of Ukraine, the EIB said in a statement.
The EIB, essentially the European Union’s investment bank, also said in a statement that the loan to Kernel will also help the company to meet climate action objectives through the construction of five renewable energy power plants that use biomass.
Kernel also plans to develop modern storage facilities to reduce post-harvest losses and mitigate adverse weather impacts on its harvested seeds.
According to the EIB, Kernel is making the strong, eco-friendly moves in line with expectations associated with the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, or DCFTA, signed between Ukraine and the EU, and that came into force on Sept. 1, 2017.
Partly due to the DCTFA with the EU, the Kernel Group has committed to further strengthen its environmental and health and safety standards, the EIB said, adding that their investment will create more than 2,200 jobs during the project’s implementation and about 600 permanent jobs after project completion.
“This project strengthens Ukraine’s economic competitiveness and improves lives for the rural population,” said EIB Vice-President Vazil Hudák. “The EIB’s support for the private sector in Ukraine ranges from big companies like the Kernel Group to small and medium-sized companies.”
On Nov. 27, it was reported that Kernel planned to invest $500 million into new projects over the next three years, according to the company’s CEO Yevgen Osypov.
Those plans, as reported by UkrAgroConsult, included the building of a new seed-oil extraction plant in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, the setting up of new silos to accommodate 1 million metric tons (MMT) of grain and building a new, 4 MMT grain-handling terminal.
In November, Kernel’s CEO said his company has a growth target of between 50 and 100 percent across all of its business fields.
Recently, Kyiv Post reported on how large agriholding companies in Ukraine are using political influence to obtain lucrative subsidies from Ukrainian taxpayers.
The EIB is boosting their financial support that’s on offer to Ukraine, especially for roads, education and the environment.
