On October 20, a meeting between management of “NIBULON” and «Rabobank» (the Netherlands) was held. For the first time, Mykolayiv was visited by Karel Valken, Global Head Trade & Commodity Finance for the agricultural sector. He was accompanied by the European Head of Trade & Commodity Finance for the agricultural sector in Marc Staal.   «Rabobank» is the world leader in the financing of food and agricultural companies. The bank has a AAA credit rating from rating agencies Moody`s (since 1981), Standard & Poor`s (since 1981) and DBRS (since 2001), which makes it the only private bank in the world with a triple-A rating and it takes the 6th place in the Top 10 of the world’s safest banks (Global Finance).   Therefore it is logical that such a reputable and reliable institution in agri financing is interested in a cooperation with an honest and transparent partner as “NIBULON”. Karel Valken was at the transshipment terminal for the first time and noted that he had not seen such a clean and beautiful dockyard ever in Europe, though he visited many dockyards around the world.   Notably, among other Ukrainian companies the management of «Rabobank» visited “NIBULON”, that is an evidence of the great trust and respect for the company. Moreover, Karel Valken said that he had been familiarized with the existing situation of “NIBULON” and with the difficult conditions in which the company achieves such good results today. At the transshipment terminal, the guests got acquainted with the work of a new laboratory equipped with modern facilities in accordance with best European standards, saw the non-self-propelled fleet of the company with their own eyes, got familiar with the investment program of “NIBULON” based on the revival of rivers as transport water ways for Ukraine.   The same day the guests visited Mykolayiv shipbuilding yard “Okean”, where today the construction of the tugs, ordered by “NIBULON”, is being continued. Karel Valken and Marc Staal boarded the newly built tug “NIBULON-2”, saw the first tug of the self-propelled fleet of the company “NIBULON-1”, and visited the dry dock where currently the next vessels of this series are being constructed.   Besides Oleksiy Vadaturskyy, Deputy Director General for trade Andriy Vadaturskyy and the head of the financial department Andriy Mykhaylyuk attended the meeting with the management of «Rabobank» that lasted more than 4 hours, during which the partners exchanged views on cooperation and the future of the agricultural sector in Ukraine.   Mr. Valken, in his conversation with the Director General of “NIBULON”, Hero of Ukraine Oleksiy Vadaturskyy shared his own views on «Rabobank’s» potential in Ukraine. In particular, he mentioned that the bank is interested in financing the development of agriculture in the country, since it could be the “regulatory element in maintaining the world balance of the grain market.” However it is urgently needed that the country ensures transparency of its public agricultural policies and reduces administrative control in the private sector.   Oleksiy Vadaturskyy thanked the representatives of «Rabobank» for their provided support in implementing this large-scale project of Ukrainian agricultural infrastructure. After all, thanks to the work in Ukraine of such reliable and reputable European financial institutions as «Rabobank», today “NIBULON” in spite of everythinghas an opportunity not to deviate from its goals to revive the Ukrainian agricultural sector, and the formation of our country as the supplier of high quality grain and guarantor of food security in the world.   On October, 23 “NIBULON” received letter of gratitude from the management of “Rabobank”: Dear sirs,   I would like to thank you for the outstanding hospitality and enjoyed meeting. The visit was very worthwhile and I was really impressed with the various facilities as well as the effective tugboats.   The assetbase of Nibulon and its experienced management is an example on how agriculture can be successful in the Ukraine. I would be delighted to show Oleksiy Vadaturskyy and Andriy Mikhailyuk around the Port of Rotterdam in due course. Best regards and looking forward meeting you all soon again.   Karel Valken