The International Finance Corporation (IFC) approved provision of a loan of USD 37 million to the MV Cargo company for financing construction of a grain terminal at the Yuzhny seaport on 9 January, the Interfax Ukraine news agency reports. According to the IFC, the loan agreement is awaiting signing by both parties.
As reported, the European Bank Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is also involved in the project as a lender, and it will provide a loan of the same amount.
The construction of a grain terminal with a capacity of 5 million tons per year and the port’s berth No. 25 will take place in two stages.
Rail facilities for receiving 4 million tons of grain, a grain storage, equipment for drying grain, a network of elevators and conveyors, and a grain-loading vessel with a capacity of 2,000 tons per hour will be built in the first phase.
The second phase of the terminal construction project will involve construction of facilities for liquid bulk cargo, additional elevators, and a second grain-loading vessel, which will increase the annual capacity of the handling facility to 6-8 million tons of grain.
The project requires purchase of 11 land plots with a total area of 28.01 hectares. MV Cargo has acquired nine land plots from three private owners at market prices. It has leased two land plots from the Odesa regional administration for 49 years.
The project is expected to be implemented and the facility put into operation within two years from the date of commencement of construction. The total investment in the project is USD 130 million.
The Cargill company, the Ukrainian Port Authority, and MV Cargo signed a trilateral memorandum of intent to implement the investment project at the Yuzhny seaport in August 2015. In February 2016, Cargill and MV Cargo signed an investment agreement under which Cargill will invest USD 100 million in the construction of the grain terminal. The parties formalized their intentions by signing a contract under which Cargill will acquire a 51% stake in MV Cargo.
