Our Company started in the mid-nineties exporting agricultural commodities produced in Ukraine. Originally an asset-light company dealing essentially in the origination of crops produced in Ukraine, their transport to the various load ports on the Black Sea and final sale to international trading houses, our Company started acquiring key assets in order to control origination and manage the logistics of grain, in particular grain silos as an instrument to build a stable and long-term grain origination base.

In 2002, we expanded into new business by acquiring a sunflower seed crushing plant located in Poltava, Ukraine. With this acquisition, our Group evolved from a grain origination and logistics operator to a processor of agricultural commodities. In the same year, we moved up the value chain and purchased our first farms. Our crop production capacity has since increased steadily both by concluding new long-term leasehold contracts and by purchasing additional farms.

In 2004, with growth firmly under way in Ukraine, Management of the Company decided to expand the business portfolio of the Group and move into domestic consumer markets and branded oil products. To this effect, we acquired the oil brand "Schedry Dar", together with crushing, refining and bottling facilities located in the eastern part of Ukraine.

In 2006, we initiated a significant consolidation phase in the sunflower oil industry in Ukraine: we finalized a landmark transaction and purchased the production assets of "Evrotek", a major domestic competitor with a dominant position in the Kharkov oblast, eastern Ukraine and bordering on the Poltava region, a company active in both the oil and grain businesses and also having large farming operations. As a result of this transaction, the size of the Company increased twofold and Kernel became one of the leading agri-businesses in Ukraine.

In 2007, we entered into a long-term license agreement with the company "Chumak", providing Kernel an exclusive right to produce and market bottled sunflower oil under the trademarks "Chumak Zolota" and "Chumak Domashnya". Following this agreement, Kernel became the No 1 producer and marketer of bottled sunflower oil in Ukraine with an overall 35% market share. 2007 marked also a new stage in our development as we became a publicly listed company: We listed Kernel on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in November 2007 and new shareholders entered the capital of the Company to participate in our growth story.

In 2008, we acquired Transbulkterminal, Ukraine's second largest grain terminal complex for handling, transshipment and export of grain. Located in the port of Ilyichevsk on the Black Sea, Transbulkterminal grain terminal is a key gateway to international markets and allows for the annual handling and export of over 4.0 million tons of crops. This acquisition created the largest integrated supply chain in Ukraine for agricultural commodities and provides the Company a unique platform for export of grain produced in Ukraine, as well as transit for grain from Russia and Kazakhstan.

The Company also expanded its farming activity by acquiring additional farms managing altogether some 50 000 ha of prime farm land, bringing the total acreage to be harvested in 2008 to 80 000 ha. The expansion of the farming business of the Group was partially financing through an offering of 5 400 000 new shares in March 2008, raising total gross proceeds of PLN 194 million (USD 84 million).

In 2009, Kernel extended crushing capacity to the Black Sea by concluding a tolling agreement for the crushing of 230 000 tons of sunflower seed per year at a modern crushing plant located in the port of Illichevsk, next to Transbulkterminal.

In 2010, Kernel consolidated further the crushing industry in Ukraine by acquiring the production assets of Allseeds, adding 565 000 tons of sunflower seed crushing capacity per year and terminals for the transshipment and export of sunflower oil and meal. Towards the end of 2010, with the commissioning of a new multi-seed crushing plant located in the north of the Nikolayev oblast and a total crushing capacity exceeding 2 million tons of sunflower seed per year, Kernel became the undisputed leader of the crushing industry in Ukraine and the largest exporter of bulk sunflower oil.

To finance partially through new equity its growth strategy and pipeline of acquisitions, the Company offered 4 300 000 new shares to investors in April 2010, raising total gross proceeds of PLN 241 million (USD 80 million).