By KYIV. Dec 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – GNT Group, which operates the Olympex Coupe International grain terminal on the territory of the Odesa Maritime Merchandise Port, denies allegations of misuse of credit lines totaling $75 million received in November 2019 from the U.S. hedge fund Argentem Creek Partners.
The press service of G.N. Terminal Enterprises Limited (Cyprus), the holding and management company of GNT Group, told Interfax-Ukraine about this on Monday.
"GNT Group declares its readiness to repay loan obligations to Argentem Creek Partners and is open to negotiations on providing all necessary financial documents for the audit, because there could not be any violations or misuse of credit funds. We would like to emphasize that GNT Group is one of participants involved in the grain corridor with the support of the UN, and never committed any abuse of credit funds in their entire more than 20-year history," the company’s press service said.
According to it, Argentem Creek Partners on December 23 began enforcement actions against GNT Group, as it suspects it of abusing the provided credit funds in the amount of $25 million and $50 million. At the same time, GNT Group said that the agreement for the provision of two credit lines was concluded in such a way that all credit funds had a purely designated purpose, and any misuse of them was impossible.
The company operating the grain terminal also said that the loan agreement was concluded in such a way that there was no direct communication with the lender, since the servicing of the loan agreement was entrusted to an international trustee, the trust company Madison Pacific Trust Limited.
In turn, in 2022, Ukraine found itself in a situation of complete naval blockade due to the full-scale Russian invasion, which had a significant impact on the financial performance of all Ukrainian players in the cargo transshipment market. Under these conditions, the loan agreement concluded by GNT Group allowed the holding to defer loan payments through the receipt of waivers (deferred payments) stipulated by the agreement.
In connection with the above, GNT Group announced its readiness to repay loan obligations to Argentem Creek Partners. The group is also open for negotiations on the provision of all necessary financial documents for the audit of its activities.
The company’s press service recalled that the Olimpex Coupe International grain terminal has been operating since 2000 and is designed to store up to 190,000 tonnes of crops. The volume of investments in the development of the enterprise exceeded $80 million. Thus, from 2009 to 2019, the project attracted loan funds from the international company CHS Inc. and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The Ukrainian assets of GNT Group include the specified grain terminal located in the rear of berths No. 3 and No. 4 of the State-Owned Enterprise Odesa Maritime Merchandise Port and the Dry Port production site – a complex for the completion of grain and oilseeds at the Euroterminal industrial site.
The enterprise transships grain, oilseeds, bulk (ore) and bulk cargo (edible oils), as well as metal products and mineral construction materials.
