News (#5 May 2018)

Deals

Vasil Kisil & Partners advised Corteva Agriscience

On 14 March the Ukrainian companies of Corteva Agriscience, an agricultural division of DowDuPont, and Poltava Regional State Administration announced the signing of a cooperation memorandum to develop the road infrastructure in Dykanka District at the location of the company's production facility.

According to the memorandum, Pioneer Nasinnia Ukraine LLC and Stasi Nasinnia LLC agree to help the local community of the village of Stasi and invest in the construction of a new public road to change truck traffic to and from the seeds production facility without affecting the rural area. The investor is ready to allocate around USD 1 million during 2018 for the project.

Vasil Kisil & Partners have been supporting the construction of the production facility for corn and sunflower seeds branded by Pioneer® trademark since the investor's first steps to include land allotment, obtaining permits and approvals, execution of construction agreements, commissioning certain construction stages, etc. The firm's lawyers also supported day-to-day business operations of DowDuPont Ukrainian companies related to the production and sale of seeds and other matters.

Alexander Borodkin, partner and head of the Real Estate & Construction practice group, supervised the project.

 

CMS advised ING on USD 80 million facility to Vioil

CMS has advised ING Bank N.V. on yet more financing for the Ukrainian agribusiness sector. ING, as a mandated lead arranger and bookrunner, arranged a USD 80 million pre-export finance facility to Vioil — one of the largest producers of vegetable oils in Ukraine. The syndicated facility was channeled to Ukrainian exporters to further fund the working capital needs of the Vioil group, including to refinance existing facilities. Given various regulatory restrictions in Ukraine, the advice of CMS also included the structuring of refinancing, whose terms were successfully negotiated with existing lenders by ING with the vast support of the CMS team.

The transaction was led by Mark Segall and Elitsa Ivanova, English law qualified partners, and Kateryna Chechulina, senior associate and Banking & International Finance practice coordinator, who were supported by their experienced teams.

 

Dentons advised BNP Paribas

 Dentons advised BNP Paribas and a syndicate of six other international banks on a USD 195 million three-year pre-export secured revolving facility for Ferrexpo.  The funds will be used by Ferrexpo for general corporate purposes.  Ferrexpo is a Swiss-based iron ore pellet producer with mines in Ukraine and sales operations around the world. 

Dentons’ cross-border team from several offices was led by partners Evgenia Laurson and Natalia Selyakova, and included partner Udayan Mukherjee, counsels Nadiya Shylienkova and Dennis Montgomery, and associates Olga Sokolova and Artem Lukyanov.

 

AEQUO advised DebtX

AEQUO advised DebtX Ukraine, a Ukrainian subsidiary of The Debt Exchange, Inc, on its qualification with the state Deposit Guarantee Fund. As a result of such qualification, DebtX Ukraine became qualified to render the following services to the DGF within the course of disposal of NPLs: preparation of a loan portfolio for the sale and holding of auctions on such loan portfolios. Such qualification is a significant milestone to accelerate NPLs portfolio disposal, consisting of a number of debts on the balance sheets of banks managed by the Deposit Guarantee Fund. The latter expects to dispose of billions of NPLs to Ukrainian and foreign investors through transparent tender procedures in 2018, which are being implemented with the participation of leading foreign intermediaries.

AEQUO’s project team included senior associate Bohdan Dmukhovskyy and associate Valeriy Savva, who worked under the supervision of Yulia Kyrpa, partner and head of the firm’s Banking & Finance arm.

 

MHP SE announced Eurobond closing

The Kiev office of Baker McKenzie acted as Ukrainian law counsel for J.P. Morgan Securities plc, ING Bank N.V. and UBS Limited as joint lead managers with respect to the issue of
USD 550 million 6.95% notes due 2026 by MHP Lux S.A.

MHP Lux S.A. is a member of the MHP (Myronivskyi Hliboprodukt) Group, a leading Ukrainian agricultural producer. The proceeds of the Notes will be used to finance MHP Group's tender related to its 8.25% Notes due 2020 and for short-term debt refinancing, general corporate purposes and further expansion of the business of the MHP Group.

Baker McKenzie’s team was led by managing partner Serhiy Chorny with key input from partner Viacheslav Yakymchuk, and associates Ganna SmyrnovaStepanyda Badovska and Olga Gavrylyuk.

 

Asters advised CMEC

Asters acted as a legal counsel to China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) in connection with the signing of a contract with DTEK, for the construction of a solar power plant in Nikopol (Dnipropetrovsk Region).

The project’s cost is estimated at EUR 230 million and will be financed with a combination of DTEK funds and a loan from CMEC secured by the Export Credit Agency of China.

Asters' project team included partner Yaroslav Petrov, senior associate Marta Halabala, associate Olena Sichkovska advising on issues related to the EPC agreement, partner Iryna Pokanay, counsel Gabriel Aslanian, associates Inna Bondarenko and Oleksandr Khomenko advising on financial agreements and securities, and partner Alexey Khomyakov on tax issues.

 

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