Kernel amended capital expense plan for oilseed processing plant construction, increased expenditure

Kernel Holding S.A., a company founded and co-owned by Andrey Verevskiy, reported the increased capital expenditures related to the construction of the oilseed processing plant in western Ukraine, Starokostiantyniv Crushing Plant in Khmelnytsky region, from initial USD 180 mln to USD 279 mln.

As reported, incremental expenditure is a result of ongoing changes made to the initial plant design expanding sunflower seeds in-take and storage capacity, improving capabilities of the onsite truck and railway logistics along with elevated costs of construction materials reflecting global pricing trends and labour inflation.

"Upon commission scheduled for spring 2022, the oilseed processing plant will have the capacity to process one million tons of sunflower seeds per year. Co-generation heat and power facility adjacent to the plant will have the electricity generation capacity of 22.5 MW to produce the renewable energy from biomass," the company says in a statement.

The construction works started in spring 2019. The Ukrainian engineering company Interproject GmbH designed the facility. The Ukrainian company INFOCOM LTD is also engaged in construction.

As a reminder, Kernel shares are now traded on the Ukrainian Stock Exchange. Dragon Capital initiated a dual listing.