📋 Tender Overview
Project Number
50643
Company Name
SOUFFLET AGRO UKRAINE LLC
Date ESRS Disclosed
Apr 7, 2025
Country
Ukraine
Region
Europe
Last Updated Date
Environmental Category
B
Status
Pending Approval
Sector
other
Industry
other
Department
Regional Industry MAS LAC & EUR
Project Description
The proposed IFC investment consists of (i) two risk-sharing facilities (RSF) to Soufflet Agro Ukraine CJSC ( Soufflet Agro Ukraine ) in Ukraine to partially guarantee up to €30m of its receivables from Ukrainian farmers and up to €10m of its receivables from global buyers of Ukrainian grain; and (ii) a loan of up to €50m to InVivo Group SA (InVivo or the Group ), a Soufflet Agro Ukraine’s parent entity in France, to provide capex and working capital financing for the operations of its direct and/or indirect subsidiaries in Ukraine (together, the Project ).
InVivo is a mission-driven group, leading global agricultural conglomerate active in agriculture, international grain trade, malt processing, agri-food, and retail, employing 15,000 people in 40 countries. InVivo originates over 10 million tons of grains (primarily barley and wheat) from thousands farms across Africa, Central Asia, Europe, and South America. Soufflet Agro Ukraine, founded in 2007 in Ukraine, originates grain (e.g., wheat, barley, soybean, oil crops) from Ukrainian farmers and supplies it to export markets and partly to InVivo’s malting plant in Ukraine (Slavuta Malt House), one of the 41 Soufflet Malt plants. Soufflet Agro Ukraine employs about 190 people and has multiple warehouse facilities with 160k tons storage capacity.
InVivo, together with the former Soufflet Group which was acquired in 2021, are IFC’s repeated clients with previous investments available at: Project #48083, Project #47511, Project #45465, Project #40331, Project #38083, Project #34759, Project #30067, Project #27510. The E&S performance of the existing investments with InVivo (and previously with the former Soufflet Group) has been satisfactory.
Overview of IFC's Scope of Review
IFC’s E&S review of the proposed investment included: (i) review of publicly available E&S documents, and project related information and studies provided by Soufflet Agro Ukraine and the group, including E&S management plans and procedures, monitoring/reporting framework, internal audits, emergency preparedness plans, malting plant’s resource efficiency, and barley production and sourcing in Ukraine; (ii) virtual meetings in December 2024 with InVivo’s, Soufflet Malt’s and Soufflet Agriculture’s management and representatives of Soufflet Agro Ukraine (sustainability, environmental, occupational health and safety (OHS), human resources (HR) and community relations teams).
