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EBRD supports the largest edible oil operation in Ukraine
Revised version at the request of Eridania Beghin-Say. Please note the change in paragraph 4.
The Ukrainian edible oil sector will be boosted by a loan of US$ 43.5 million (EUR 39.4 million), which the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending to Dnipropetrovs'k Oil Extraction Plant (DOEP), a private Ukrainian company majority owned by Eridania Beghin-Say (EBS).
The loan comprises an A-loan of US$ 15 million (EUR 13.6 million) for the EBRD’s own account and a B-loan of US$ 20 million (EUR 18.1 million) to be syndicated to participant banks. In addition, the EBRD is extending a US$ 8.5 million (EUR 7.7 million) long-term loan to DOEP.
"This new financing reflects DOEP’s success in a difficult market and shows how the EBRD can serve the needs of farmers on the basis of sound banking principles," said Charles Frank, First Vice President of the EBRD. "By helping this private sector enterprise, the Bank will support the development of the Ukrainian agricultural sector. The EBRD is pleased to be associated in this project with Eridania Beghin-Say, a leading strategic investor that has significantly improved the level of technical, financial and marketing expertise in local agribusiness."
"The success of DOEP is due to the strength of EBS in the oil seed business (CEREOL) and its long term commitment to central Europe and Ukraine, which now accounts for almost 10 per cent (EUR 1 billion) of the Group’s turnover," said Ross McInnes, the Chief Financial Officer of EBS. "We are particularly pleased to have worked closely with the EBRD throughout this transaction."
The operation will help to finance DOEP’s purchase of sunflower seeds for the production of refined, edible oil for the Russian and Ukrainian markets - in particular Oleina, the market leader in edible oil in Russia and Ukraine. DOEP will process more than 260,000 tons of sunflower seeds per year.
DOEP has been a client of the EBRD since 1995, when the Bank made a US$ 8.5 million (EUR 7.7 million) equity investment. In 1998 the EBRD provided a loan of US$ 20 million (EUR 18.1 million).
Eridania Beghin-Say, the controlling shareholder of DOEP since 1998, is a leading integrated European agribusiness company, with FRF 65 billion (EUR 9.96 billion) turnover.
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