The Ministry of Community Development, Territories, and Infrastructure is preparing new concession projects, as well as the relaunch of those paused in Ukrainian ports, reported Deputy Head of the Ministry Timur Tkachenko.
"Preparations are underway for the relaunch of projects in the ports of Olvia and Kherson. At the same time, we are working on the State Joint-Stock Company 'Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company' - this is critically important for strengthening UDP's position in the Danube transportation market and ensuring the export of grain, especially in the event of possible restrictions on access to deep-water ports," - wrote Tkachenko on Facebook on Tuesday after a meeting with representatives of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Tkachenko expressed gratitude to the IFC "for their comprehensive support and direct involvement in the development of port infrastructure."
"As part of this cooperation, we continue to work on updating the timelines for the implementation of concession projects, which will help determine optimal dates for announcing concession competitions," he wrote.
Among the top priority topics, according to him, are the development of investment activities in Ukrainian ports, fleet modernization, and attracting private capital for the financing of restoration and development of infrastructure.
As is known, the Kherson Sea Commercial Port was granted a 30-year concession to the company 'Risoil-Kherson' in 2020. It later became known that the co-investor of 'Risoil-Kherson', who won the competition for the implementation of the state property concession project in Kherson Sea Commercial Port, Jemal Inashvili, exited the project. According to him, the main reason for this decision was the delay in the process of transferring the port to the concessionaire.
The assets of the port of 'Olvia' were transferred for a 35-year concession on December 1, 2021, to the Qatari company QTerminals Olvia. The company's investments were estimated at 3.4 billion UAH. Additionally, the company planned to build a new tunnel under the railway in the Shipbuilding area of Mykolaiv, with investments estimated at 80 million UAH.
Due to the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, public-private partnerships have not been put on hold - reports indicated preparations for new concession projects in the ports of Odesa and Izmail.
Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Community Development, Territories, and Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov stated at the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2023) in London that five major companies have shown interest in concession projects at the 'Chornomorsk' seaport. In particular, there were reports of interest in the concession of the container terminal at this port from the Danish transport and logistics company A.P. Moeller-Maersk.