The Container Terminal Ilyichevsk private enterprise (CTI) has denied the claim by the state-owned Ilyichevsk Commercial Seaport that CTI has a target for cargo transshipment volume that the terminal is required to meet.

"On 30 January 2015, the Ilyichevsk Commercial Seaport published on its website information claiming that Container Terminal Ilyichevsk failed to meet a certain target for processing of goods in tons per month. Container Terminal Ilyichevsk hereby states that this is absolute fiction by the Ilyichevsk Commercial Seaport. Container Terminal Ilyichevsk did not and does not receive any targets," Container Terminal Ilyichevsk said in a press release.

The company's press service said that the agreement on joint operations between Container Terminal Ilyichevsk and the Ilyichevsk Commercial Seaport outlines the obligations of Container Terminal Ilyichevsk regarding payment of a guaranteed minimum profit to the port.

"In 10 years of operation, this obligation, as well as all the others, has been strictly fulfilled. UAH 73.826 million was transferred to the state-owned Ilyichevsk Commercial Seaport in 2014 and UAH 59.108 million in 2013. For comparison, the profit of the entire port was UAH 60 million in 2014, according to a statement that a representative of the port made in the Economic Court. Thus, it should be recognized that the Ilyichevsk Commercial Seaport currently makes profits mainly due to Container Terminal Ilyichevsk. The claim that the Ilyichevsk Commercial Seaport incurred losses is false," the press release states.

Earlier, the Ilyichevsk Commercial Seaport announced that the Economic Court of the Odessa Region had terminated the agreement on joint operations between the Ilyichevsk seaport and Container Terminal Ilyichevsk dated 22 June 2005 and that the court's decision has not yet entered into force.

The Ilyichevsk container terminal is capable of handling vessels with a capacity of up to 8,000 TEU. The terminal has a quay length of 656 meters, a water depth alongside berth of up to 13.5 meters, a container storage area of with a capacity of 17,100 TEU, and a container processing capacity of 850,000 TEU per year. This terminal was formerly part of the Russian group National Container Company (NCC), but NCC was bought in September 2013 by the Global Ports holding. Information on the website of the holding states that it performs operations only in the Baltic and Far East Basins and that it has the option of acquiring 50% of CTI and believes that the Ukrainian market has great prospects in the long-term future.