CMS has advised a syndicate of banks led by ING Bank on the postponement of loan payments under the USD 450 million pre-export facility for Ukraine’s Kernel Group. Linklaters reportedly advised the Kernel Group. Allen & Overy reportedly advised Natixis, another lender.
According to CMS, "the terms of repayments postponement have been developed and agreed upon in parallel for several bank creditors of Kernel, including Natixis, the EBRD, and the EIB, following a fair treatment principal approach. According to the agreed terms, Kernel will continue to pay interest accrued on loans in accordance with the terms of loan agreements, whereas the principal repayment is postponed until June 30, 2023."
"The payment terms adjustment was required due to the severe disruptions to the business processes and logistics for the supply of grain and sunflower oil, caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in particular the blockade of Black Sea ports," CMS added. "The agreement in relation to the bank debt repayment reached with the creditors of the Kernel Group would provide the necessary financial stability for the Kernel Group to work in the current unprecedented circumstances of the Russian aggression against Ukraine."
Kernel is a Ukrainian bottled sunflower oil producer and seller. According to CMS, before the war, Kernel was ranked first in the world in sunflower oil production and export.
CMS previously advised a syndicate of banks led by ING Bank on the extension of a pre-export facility for Ukraine’s Kernel Group as well as an increase in the credit facility to USD 420 million (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on November 9, 2021).
The CMS international team was led by Kyiv-based Counsel Kateryna Chechulina and included Partner Ihor Olekhov, Senior Associate Mykola Heletiy, Associates Khrystyna Korpan, Ivan Pshyk, Iryna Barlit, and Roman Hryshyn-Hryshchuk, and Trainee Ruslan Dotsenko, as well as Sofia-based Partner Elitsa Ivanova and teams from the firm’s Switzerland and Luxembourg offices.
