GNT Group found an investor for the terminal in Odesa: the company called on creditors to dialogue

The GNT Group grain terminal in Odesa may resume operations thanks to the emergence of a new investor.

This was stated by the company’s co-owner Serhiy Groza in an interview with Business Censor.

The terminal, built with the support of the EBRD and Swiss banks, processed up to 5 million tons of cargo annually and provided work for more than 1,500 people. However, the long-standing confrontation between the owners of GNT Group and foreign funds Argentem Creek Partners (ACP) and Innovatus Capital Partners put the company at risk of shutting down.

Against the backdrop of lawsuits, arrests and loss of control over the terminal, Groza reported reaching agreements with a potential investor – a long-time client of GNT Group, interested in the full restoration of the company’s activities.

“We have a constructive offer. We found an investor who is ready to pay off fair debts to creditors and invest in the restoration of the terminal. He is interested in transshipment. He was our client, he always liked how the company worked,” he said.

According to the co-owner of GNT Group, after attracting new creditors, the company never received the promised working capital, and the terminal’s operations were virtually paralyzed.

“As a result, the company did not receive a single penny of working capital from ACP. They bought out our partners’ investments for about $75 million, but the financing rate was extremely high. I considered this partnership exclusively as temporary — bridge finance. Paying 20% ​​is unthinkable. We immediately began looking for an adequate investor who would develop the business with us,” says Groza.

In addition, he reported that the funds had disrupted the placement of Eurobonds for $200 million, which would have significantly reduced the cost of financing. In parallel, GNT Group faced criminal pressure, searches, and arrests.

“The facility was created as a single technological complex. They will simply destroy it, not understanding how to work with it. The State Property Fund of Ukraine terminated the lease agreements with them. The specialists have resigned. What will they do next? Unlike them, we know the specifics of working in the Odesa port, having worked there for a quarter of a century. Our proposal is the only adequate way, otherwise everyone will lose – we, they, the state, the port,” Groza emphasized.

GNT Group calls on creditors to return the settlement of the dispute to the legal channel and begin negotiations before the situation becomes irreversible.

Earlier, USM reported that the owners of the terminal in the Odesa port were suspected of fraud for $20 million.