Land West announces commencement of final stage of spring sowing campaign and credit agreements with three financial institutions

Heavy rains experienced across Western Ukraine, primarily in May, have prolonged the sowing time of certain spring crops and caused management to slightly reduce cultivated area. The original target of 55 ths ha harvested hectares for 2008 has been reduced to 52 ths ha, decreasing only the planned cultivation areas of barley and oat cultures a total of 3 ths ha. Management is confident the new 52 ths ha target will be reached by June 10.

Management is also pleased to announce that credit agreements have been reached with three financial institutions, including Raiffeisen Bank, Kredobank and Societe Generale, for loans totaling $10.7 mln. This capital is being used by the company to purchase machinery & equipment. Land West is currently finalizing attraction of another USD 5.6 mln to be spent on purchasing new machinery.

About us

Land West is the largest agricultural company in Western Ukraine, controlling over 184,000 ha of fertile soil in Zhytomyr, Rivne, Khmelnytsk, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil regions. In December 2007, the company placed a 20% equity stake with foreign institutional investors, raising $43 million. Proceeds of this offering were used to purchase modern machinery including tractors, plows, combine harvester threshers and other equipment. The utilization of this highly productive machinery has enabled Land West to double the amount of the cultivated area from 25 ths ha in 2007 up to more than 50 ths ha in 2008.