Part of the territory of the state-owned Belgorod-Dnestrovsky seaport (Odessa region) has been leased to the private companies River Trans and KD Trans, the investor in which is the OREXIM group of companies. The press service of the port told the CFTS that the real estate (8 hectares out of 55 hectares of industrial area) was leased as part of implementation of an investment project. The aims of the project are increase of the volume of cargo handling, repair and modernization of equipment, and construction of a new grain terminal.

According to the port, the monthly rent for the leased real estate is more than UAH 700,000 (excluding inflation indices), of which UAH 500,000 is paid into the state budget. Earlier, media reported that the companies would pay a rent of UAH 600,000 per month (UAH 200,000 by River Trans and UAH 400,000 by BK Trans).

The lessor is the Odessa regional office of the State Property Fund, which determined the lease for the property. "The state will receive at least UAH 6 million per year in addition to the taxes and fees that the Belgorod-Dnestrovsky seaport and private stevedoring companies will pay on their production operations. Before the arrival of the investor, the state received about UAH 100,000 per year from the lease of the real estate (lease of offices by forwarding companies, agents, and regulatory authorities)," the press service said in response to a request from the CFTS.

The port of stressed that movable property was not rented out.

The Odessa regional office of the State Property Fund told the CFTS that valuation of the property was performed in accordance with the law: "A competition was announced to select an appraiser. After analyzing bids, the competition commission selected the appraiser that performed the valuation."

The State Property Fund also confirmed that movable property was not rented out. Asked whether 8 hectares of industrial area was leased, the State Property Fund told the CFTS that this figure was exaggerated, but it did not specify by how much.

Earlier, reports quoted the port’s former deputy head for financial and economic affairs Oleh Koval as saying that the Bugaz port station alone generates USD 250,000 per month.

As reported, the volume of cargo transshipment at the Belgorod-Dnestrovsky seaport reduced by 7.9% to 615,000 tons in 2014, compared with 2013.