EBRD sells share in Miodrag Kostic's Agri Europe

(Miodrag Kostic) The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has sold its ownership stake in Agri Europe, the leading agribusiness group registered in Cyprus and operating mostly in Serbia and Ukraine, the bank reported. The report doesn't disclose who the ownership stake was sold to or the value of the transaction.

EBRD entered the ownership structure of Agri Europe in 2013 through an investment in the amount of EUR 50 million in order to support the expansion of operations (in agriculture and meat industry) through investments in silo infrastructure, agricultural equipment and financing working assets.

Miljan Zdrale, Central and Southeast Europe regional manager of EBRD for agribusiness, stated that the partnership, cooperation and engagement with Agri Europe had already produced results beneficial to everybody.

Zdrale pointed out that EBRD would remain in close contact with the company and that he hoped that “the successful cooperation will continue on new projects in near future”.

Miodrag Kostic, chairman of the board of Agri Europe, who has been involved in the cooperation with EBRD through the years, said that the bank had supported the development of the company over the previous 10 years.

– Our cooperation started with crediting and then advanced to their having a stake in the capital, which raised our company to a whole new level. By working together, we've made progress in various fields of business and corporate management, creating a solid base for a long-term growth in the future – Kostic said.

He added that he believed that they had found a balance between the expertise of EBRD and the company's vision of entrepreneurship.

– This was the key to our successful cooperation and we will maintain this kind of approach in the future. In that sense, one might say that the first phase of our cooperation is completed and that we are now ready, more than ever, to move on to the next phase of cooperation on possibly even bigger and more challenging projects – Kostic said.

Agri Europe is a privately-owned company and one of the biggest vertically integrated agribusiness companies in the Balkans in meat and sugar industry, as well as in agriculture. The company consists of MK Group (Serbian producer and trader of agricultural goods), Carnex (leading Serbian meat producer), Sunoko (leading Serbian sugar producer and exporter) and AgroInvest (Ukrainian branch, active in primary agricultural production).

Agri Europe Cyprus

MK Group d.o.o. Beograd

Carnex d.o.o. Vrbas

Sunoko d.o.o. Novi Sad

Agroinvest - Salaš 84 Novi Sad

EBRD Evropska banka za obnovu i razvoj Beograd

Agri Europe

MK Group

AgroInvest Ukraine

Miodrag Kostic

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

EBRD

Miljan Zdrale