Andrey Verevsky
Kernel's owner structures want to receive more than UAH 1,2 billion for the now illiquid company Enselko.
One of Ukraine's wealthiest landowners, former Verkhovna Rada deputy from the Party of Regions Andriy Verevskyi, who controls the agricultural holding company Kernel, has begun selling his agricultural business, which has become redundant.
As DS has learned, an auction for the sale of the entire property complex of Enselko LLC (Poltava) was announced on February 2nd and is scheduled for March 3rd of this year. The starting price for this asset is quite significant, amounting to UAH 1,233 billion.
As previously reported by DS, back in 2011, Kernel entered into an option to acquire the Enselko group of companies, led by an LLC of the same name. At the time, this group, which farmed approximately 30 hectares of land in the Khmelnytskyi region, was controlled by the investment fund Finch Investments, founded by British millionaire Bob Finch. The deal was completed in early 2012 and cost the seller just over $50 million. "The new enterprise, equipped with the latest agricultural machinery, expanded Kernel's operations in the Khmelnytskyi region, which is rich in black soil and receives adequate rainfall," Verevskyi's company said, expressing its satisfaction with the purchase.
At the time of the deal, the most profitable asset of the acquired group of companies was Enselko Agro LLC. Its turnover in 2011 was approximately UAH 150 million, and it controlled the lion's share of the land—approximately 25 hectares. This company was immediately re-registered to Kernel's key holding company, Jerste BV. Over the next few years, Enselko Agro acquired virtually all of Verevskyi's company's land assets in the Khmelnytskyi region. As a result, by the end of 2015, the company was cultivating approximately 100 hectares of land in 13 districts of the region.
The remaining companies, however, were less fortunate—they simply proved redundant, and it was decided to dispose of them. As part of this process, Enselko LLC was transferred from offshore companies close to Verevskyi to a former division of the Ukrros group (acquired by Verevskyi in 2011)—the Veselinovsky grain receiving enterprise. The latter company was also among those slated for elimination and was registered to Poltava resident Lyudmila Babachenko, who had worked for Kernel. Following this, a managed bankruptcy process was launched for the enterprise. It was initiated last summer by Verevskyi-controlled Khleborob agricultural firm from the Kirovohrad region, to which Enselko LLC owed 600 hryvnias. The main creditor, which gained full control over the relevant committee, was another company owned by Kernel's founder, Lanen SA, with claims totaling 1 billion hryvnias. So it is not surprising that already in November 2015, Enselco was successfully declared bankrupt.
During the liquidation process, it was decided to auction off all of the company's remaining assets in a single lot. This lot consisted primarily of stakes in subsidiaries such as Enselko Agroholding, Ensel 1, and the agricultural enterprises Zhayvir, Ladygi, Olimp, and Ukraina. However, calling these assets valuable is hardly a stretch—almost all of them are currently teetering on the brink of closure, managing only small holdings. For Enselko Agroholding, this process began last year at the instigation of its parent company. Based on this, it can be predicted that even a 90% discount from the starting price is unlikely to help Verevskyi find a buyer for this "depleted" asset. This means he will have to accept the write-off of his billion-dollar debt.
In topic: Farmer Andriy Verevskyi: The success story of a former Party of Regions and BYuT member
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