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Some UAH 3.4 billion, or US$139.7 million, will be invested in the port's development within five years.
Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry has announced Qatar-based QTerminals W.L.L. the winner of a tender for the concession of the state-run Olvia stevedoring company's port-based property located in Ukraine's Mykolaiv region.
"Qatar's QTerminals has won an Olvia port concession tender. Some UAH 3.4 billion [US$139.7 million] will be invested in the port's development within five years. This is one of the largest foreign direct investment in the port industry over Ukraine's independence. Annual concession payments are set at UAH 82 million [US$3.4 million], which is 16 times up from the port's profit in 2019," the ministry's press service said on January 24.
Read alsoCompanies from Qatar, Ukraine submit bids for Ukraine's Olvia port concession tender
Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii says the concessionaire will inject UAH 80 million (US$3.3 million) into the development of infrastructure in the city of Mykolaiv, as well as contribute to the sustainable development of the local community and the enterprise's facilities.
"Concession is not sale, it means development, an opportunity to attract the best [managers], meet the challenges of the market, boost one's competitive position through commercial flexibility and investment in upgrading and building new assets," the press service quoted Kryklii as saying.
The minister noted the transparency of the tender, which made it possible to attract a world-class port operator to work in Ukraine.
"QTerminals is Qatar's leading port operator, which is responsible for managing seaports and transport terminals across that country. The company manages the country's largest trading port Hamad worth more than US$7 billion, which is one of the most powerful and latest marine logistics complexes in the Middle East. Now QTerminals is also working to transform the port of Doha into a cruise one," he said.
Kryklii also noted the important fact that testifies to the high level and class of the Qatari company involved in the Olvia port's concession: in 2019, QTerminals handled 1.32 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), which was 300,000 TEU up from those handled by all Ukrainian port operators over the same period.
"The involvement of the company provides a unique opportunity to upgrade the port of Olvia, bring the port itself and the level of the related navigation and logistics services to the best international standards," he emphasized.
As UNIAN reported earlier, LLC Risoil-Kherson had won the tender for the transfer of assets of Kherson's Commercial Sea Port to management on concession terms.
Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry on September 12 announced tenders for the transfer of assets of the state-owned enterprises Olvia stevedoring company and Kherson's Commercial Sea Port, as well as those of the state-run Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) to management on concession terms. The Olvia port's concession is to last 35 years, while that of Kherson's Commercial Sea Port 30 years.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the Infrastructure Ministry to hold the first pilot tenders to transfer the port of Olvia and Kherson's Commercial Sea Port to concession before January 1, 2020.
The project will bring UAH 8 billion (US$328.8 million) in investment at its first stage of implementation, according to the Infrastructure Ministry.