OREANDA-NEWS. November 26, 2007. On Friday, 23 November 2007, shares of Kernel Holding S.A., the leading producer of sunflower oil and grain exporter in Ukraine, debuted on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the company's press service reported.

"I thank the investors for their confidence in our company and investment in its growth," said Andrey Verevskyy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kernel Holding. "We will do our best to live up to their expectations. I would also like to thank our staff. They have worked very hard so that we could be here today." Verevskyy received the statuette of a bull, as a token of the company's debut on the Warsaw market, from WSE President Ludwik Sobolewski.

"Today's debut is an important event for our market, because it brings us a company from Ukraine," said Ludwik Sobolewski, President of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. "Ukraine is a strategic market for the WSE and a strategic partner for the Polish economy. We are also honored that Kernel selected the Warsaw market to list its shares."

The market debut of Kernel Holding was preceded by a successful public offering by the company. Investors were allotted 22.76 million shares in the offering, of which 16.67 million were newly issued shares.

Kernel raised more than PLN 400 million gross (excluding costs of the issue) from the issue of new stock (16.67 million shares), or the equivalent of USD 160 million (the company's upper estimate of issue proceeds). The proceeds will be used to implement the investment plan, which calls for construction of a new multi-seed crushing plant in Ukraine, increased production capacity, and acquisition of a port warehouse and transshipment facility, among other investments.