The Ukrainian Seaports Authority (USPA) has called for reduction of the dividends it and state stevedoring companies operating in seaports pay to the state from 90% to 30% of their profits.
The Ukrainian Seaports Authority’s head Raivis Veckagans announced this at a press conference, the CFTS correspondent reports.
“We have a dividend of 90% of profits in 2019. This is stopping strategic development of the industry. We believe that a long-term procedure should be approved,” Veckagans said.
According to him, all infrastructure projects are implemented in 3-5 years.
“Our investment capability in the year 2020 is UAH 500 million. This money can be used to build half of a berth, and we have 263 of them,” said Veckagans. According to him, the USPA will not be able to implement some projects if the dividend payable to the state remains 90% of profits and some projects will possibly be revised. "Including, the reconstruction of the third berth in Mariupol for development of a grain cluster, and we will have to consider the possibility of finding funds for financing construction of the zero berth for the Cofco company in the Mykolaiv port," he said.
"Therefore, the compromise option is 30% in the long term," said Veckagans.
As the CFTS portal reported earlier, the USPA supports reduction of the amount of dividend that is payable on the net profits of state-owned enterprises. If the Cabinet of Ministers decides to lower the dividend rate and make the reduction permanent, the USPA will be able to implement its investment program and spend more than UAH 20 billion on development of ports in the next five years.
