Port of Chernomorsk in Odessa to be Offered in Concession to Foreign Investors

The Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure Vladislav Krikliy announced a tender for the concession of the port of Chernomorsk in 2021.

The railway-ferry complex of the State Enterprise “MTP Chernomorsk” is located in the fifth terminal of the port and includes three facilities: berths N. 26, N. 27 and N. 28. Their annual capacity is about 4.5 million tons of cargo in railway wagons, as well as 35 thousand tonnes. trucks and 250 thousand cars.

The terminal is unique, as it does not specialise in transshipment of individual commodity groups, but combines the capabilities of transshipment of railway cars and vehicles. It is the only such terminal in Ukraine and one of the largest terminals of this type in the Black Sea.

The railway-ferry complex provides the functioning of international ferry connections: Chernomorsk – Varna (Bulgaria), Chernomorsk – Poti (Georgia), Chernomorsk – Batumi (Georgia), Chernomorsk – Zonguldak (Turkey), Chernomorsk – Karasu (Turkey).

Moreover, the port of Chernomorsk connects the Black Sea with the Baltic Sea, thanks to the container trains “Viking” to the port of Klaipeda (Lithuania) and “ZUBR” to the ports of Riga (Latvia) and Muuga (Estonia).

"Today, on the day of the signing of the second concession agreement in the seaport of Olvia, we are starting a new concession project for a ferry crossing in the port of Chernomorsk. Within the framework of this concession, we plan to attract investments in the amount of UAH 150 million, which will complex of the port. This is the construction of new parking for trucks and a terminal for passengers and drivers, as well as a service station to prepare for the sale of vehicles, replacing asphalt and installing a video surveillance system in open warehouses, repairing a drawbridge, etc. We expect to develop and agree on a feasibility study in order to announce a concession tender next year," stated Vladislav Krikliy, Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure. 

Potential investors from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Norway and Turkey are interested in the possibility of taking on the concession of the railway-ferry complex of the State company SE “Sea Commercial Port of Chernomorsk” and the corresponding property of the SE” Administration of Ukrainian Seaports” associated with this complex.

Concession (from Latin “concessio”: permission, assignment) is a type of agreement on the creation or reconstruction at the expense of the investor (or – jointly with the grantor) of real estate objects (usually) owned by the State, as a result of which the investor is able to exploit object on a reimbursable basis, collecting income in his favor.

According to Krikliy, competition has already begun for the selection of consultants for the preparation of the feasibility study and tender documents. As noted in the tender documentation posted on the portal of state electronic trading ProZorro on August 20, the expected cost of consulting services is UAH 22.901 million. The amount of the tender security for the auction is UAH 250.000, the minimum price reduction step is UAH 50.000. The deadline for submission of bids is September 25, 2020.

The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) will pay for the preparation of the document since this department is the customer of the feasibility study for the transfer to the concession of the railway-ferry complex of the SE MTP Chernomorsk. However, in the future, these funds will have to be compensated by the investor, who will be defined as the concessionaire.

In addition, the Minister announced that six sections of roads with a total length of 1,500 km have already been selected for potential pilot projects of public-private partnership. The investment will reach about $ 2 billion.

In June, the state enterprise “Kherson Sea Commercial Port” was transferred to the concession of the Georgian-Swiss company-consortium “Risoil-Kherson”. In August, the second seaport in Ukraine, the specialized port “Olvia” in Nikolaev, was given a 35-year concession to the Qatari company QTerminals, which operates the largest trading port of this Arab state – Hamad.

Source: The Odessa Journal 

This article is offered by “The Odessa Journal”, an online magazine in English dedicated to Odessa’s news on culture, lifestyle and business.