Package Of Documents On Concession Of Pivdennyi Port Will Be Ready In 2020

A package of documents on concession of the state-owned Pivdennyi commercial seaport will be ready in 2020.

Minister of Infrastructure Volodymyr Omelian announced this in an interview with the BusinesTsenzor publication, the CFTS portal reports.

According to him, the Pivdennyi seaport is an interesting asset for concession in the port industry. “We will be able to do everything right if no one interferes. We have begun preparing a concession package, and it will be ready in 2020. A competition can be announced after that. The level of interest in this asset is crazy, but it could be like the sale of Kryvorizhstal or the situation involving Ukrnafta,” the minister said.

“We have about 10 facilities that are ready or almost ready. They include the Pivdennyi seaport. We will later look at the Chornomorsk seaport – in principle, we have an application from Hutchinson Ports to lease a container terminal there. [We have received] a number of proposals for some of our smaller ports – Ust-Danube, Skadovsk, Reni, and Izmail – and the Danube Shipping Company," Omelian said.

As reported, the Ministry of Infrastructure approved a prefeasibility study for concession of the Pivdennyi seaport in September last year.

Experts developed several options for development of the Pivdennyi seaport with the participation of a concessionaire, based on which the Ministry of Infrastructure is expected to prepare a concept note for a public-private partnership (PPP) project.

The Ministry of Infrastructure stated at the time that it had decided in favor of the concession option because the state would be able to receive part of the investor’s profit or revenue in the case of a concession while the government usually receives a fixed annual amount in the national currency in the case of a lease.

According to the scenarios for development of cargo flows, transshipment of iron ore, coal, and iron ore will increase in the port.

After the approval of the prefeasibility study, work on preparation of a feasibility study and a subsequent tender will begin jointly with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).