The Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved a loan of USD 37 million for construction of a grain terminal in the Yuzhny seaport (Odesa region) on 7 September. Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Finance Artem Shevaliov announced this on Facebook.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) will provide a loan of the same amount.

As reported previously, Cargill, the Ukrainian Port Authority, and MV Cargo Ltd. signed a memorandum of intention to implement an investment project at the Yuzhny port in August 2015. Under the terms of the memorandum, the Ukrainian Port Authority is to dredge the port’s waters before commence cement of construction. Cargill and the MV Cargo company, which operates in the Yuzhny seaport, signed an agreement on construction of a grain terminal in February 2016 and the Ukrainian Port Authority approved a dredging agreement in March.

MV Cargo will build a grain terminal with a capacity of 5 million tons per year (first phase) with the possibility of increasing the capacity by 2-4 million tons in the future. Cargill will later acquire 51% of the grain terminal.

The amount of planned investment in the grain terminal is about USD 130 million. The terminal is scheduled to be launched in 2017.