EUROPE – Nibulon, which produces and exports grains and oilseeds worldwide,has embarked on a pervasive development plan of its infrastructure and logistical solutions with a US$50 million funding from European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The plan aims to increase Nibulon’s capacity for grain exports to up to 8 million tonnes per year, help increase its volumes of cargo transportation by inland waterways up to 4 million tons.
Nibulon also plans to improve on the company’s organisational planning solutions in developing a modern logistics network by reducing traffic load on highways and technogenic impact on the environment in Ukraine.
EBRD, an international financial institution that supports projects from central Europe to Central Asia and the southern and eastern Mediterranean outlined its commitment to promoting development of grain logistics in Ukraine.
With an aim to create market economies that function well, EBRD invests primarily in private sector clients as a way of increasing Ukraine’s inland waterways and creating associated infrastructure.
EBRD will provide the US$40 million loan from its own account while the remaining US$10 million will be syndicated to commercial banks.
According to Nibulon, the loan will support its large-scale three-year investment plan.
With the grant funding from Japan-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund, Nibulon commits to developing and upgrading of the company by construction of three new grain river terminals, expansion of Nibulon’s fleet including new floating transhipment crane, tugboats, barges and a self-propelled dredging vessel.
A construction of a 42 000-tonne storage facility, a barge quay and a new railway at its Mykolaiv terminal will also be included.
In July 2017, EBRD and Nibulon built a long-term relationship through a syndicated loan of US$90 million intended to finance trade and export activities.
According to the company, these investments expect to achieve the best export results having exported 4.65 million tons of agricultural commodities in the year 2017.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine forecasted grain export volumes from the country in the season 2017/18 at 41 million tonnes and EBRD is stepping in to address the current problems with logistics in Ukraine.
