The Odessa city council decided at a session on June 25 to set up an interim control commission to examine whether the Odessa International Airport LLC, which is the investor in the Odessa international airport, is fulfilling its obligations under an agreement on the principles of corporate governance, the CFTS correspondent reports.

The commission intends to examine not only whether the investor is fulfilling its obligations conscientiously under the agreement, but also whether it is implementing the decisions of the Odessa city council and the city council’s executive committee relating to the municipal enterprise Odessa international airport.

The decision states that it was adopted with the aim of "reliable organization of the reconstruction and development of the Odessa international airport, as well as protection of the interests of the city’s territorial community." The commission will work until the city council adopts a final decision on the outcome of its work.

However, Odessa’s Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov removed a draft resolution that is even more resonant – the draft resolution entitled "On the Exit of the Odessa City Council from the Odessa International Airport LLC" – from the agenda of the city council’s session, saying that further consultations were necessary.

The drafts of these decisions were debated at a session of the city council because several city councilors were dissatisfied with insufficient transparency during the transfer of management of the municipally owned airport complex to the Odessa International Airport LLC in 2011 and the fact that the operations of the Odessa International Airport LLC have recently been "closed" to the city authorities.

 

As reported earlier, the Odessa city council approved the creation of the Odessa International Airport LLC as a joint venture between the municipal enterprise Odessa international airport and the Odessa Airport Development LLC (which has an authorized share capital of about UAH 1,000) in April 2011. The city’s share in the joint venture (represented by the contribution of the airport complex, which has a total value of UAH 118.4 million) was estimated at 25%. The investor pledged to contribute the remaining 75% (worth UAH 450 million) with the aim of reconstructing the airport’s passenger terminal.

 

A new estimate of the amount of the investment in the passenger terminal (USD 45-84 million) was announced at the end of August 2013. The main facilities at the Odessa airport were built in the period of 1960-1961. Its cargo terminal was built in 1982.