Is Kernel Bankrupt? Verevskyi Is Withdrawing Assets
Andrey Verevsky, the main shareholder and chairman of the board of directors of the Kernel agricultural holding, is transferring the company's "delicious" assets to his name. His actions may indicate that the holding is preparing for bankruptcy.
This was reported on his Telegram channel “Orestocracy" wrote the editor-in-chief OBOZREVATEL Orest Sohar noted that Kernel has already postponed the publication of its consolidated financial report for the year three times.
"There are several reasons, but the most important one is that the agroholding appears to be heading for bankruptcy. After all, a few months after the full-scale war began, Verevsky carried out an insider deal (an opaque transfer of shares from one of his companies to another using non-public data). and effectively removed 134 thousand hectares of land from Kernel in the Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions, which were not at risk of Russian occupation,” the statement said.
In other words, Verevsky himself "bought" the corporate rights from legal entities that owned 134 hectares of land. He was supposed to pay $210 million for the asset, although the actual price was significantly higher.
Orest Sohar notes that Verevskyi's actions could lead to Kernel's bankruptcy. If the Warsaw Stock Exchange suspends Kernel's shares due to numerous violations, the company will find itself on the brink of bankruptcy.
And the assets already re-registered in Verevsky's name cannot be seized for the benefit of creditors and investors. And if Kernel's assets are seized due to court proceedings for debts, the 134 hectares of land will remain in Verevsky's hands.
Is Kernel bankrupt?
A long delay in publishing an audit report usually occurs in two cases:
- new circumstances have emerged that were not previously known;
- The results were so unsatisfactory that more time was needed to "persuade" one of the big four auditors to "correctly" write the document.
And postponing the report three times is nonsense for a public company. "Kernel is truly facing serious problems. They can be described as 'near bankruptcy.' Net debt has grown to $1,7 billion, inventory has fallen by 13%, and the company is being denied new loans. And because of Verevskaya's actions, shares have fallen by more than 60%, while similar businesses would fall by 20-40% during a war. Independent managers with impeccable reputations, who are supposed to protect the interests of minority shareholders, are leaving the board of directors. There were three such people, and all of them resigned almost simultaneously," emphasizes Orest Sohar.
Kernel is one of Ukraine's largest agricultural holdings, and its bankruptcy will impact the country's economy. Furthermore, the situation will impact foreign investor sentiment, particularly their desire to invest in Ukraine's development after the war.
Read more about what's happening at Kernel and what these investigations could lead to soon on OBOZREVATEL.
As a reminder, Verevskyi also previously received a pool of oilseed assets from the bankrupt Delta Bank. The assets are valued at 5 billion hryvnias. These include two oil and fat plants with all their capacities, as well as a counterparty company.
DOSSIER: Farmer Andriy Verevskyi: The success story of a former Party of Regions and BYuT member
By topic: Due to Andrey Verevsky's machinations, Fitch downgraded Kernel's rating to pre-default.
Kernel owner Andrey Verevsky's assets in Switzerland may be frozen.
Verevsky's Kernel cooperates with sanctioned offshore companies and the Russian Federation.
Kernel Verevskyi shares began trading on the Ukrainian Stock Exchange.
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