Public-private partnerships in Ukrainian ports are poised to expand, as the Ukrainian government is preparing concession projects in Odessa and Izmail seaports.
The first privatization of a seaport in Ukraine was carried out during the war. Ust-Danube Commercial Seaport, located in the city of Vilkovo, Odessa region, was sold for 201 million hryvnia, which is 3.3 times more than its starting price (60 million hryvnia).
The only issue is investors and their interest in the implementation of these projects.
These are private initiative projects that were started before the war, and private initiators are interested in continuing preparations even at this time. Since it’s public, I can say that one of the projects is in the Odessa port, the other one is in the Izmail port.
Iryna Koshel-Repnevska, head of Reform Support Team (RST) at Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry
The Ukrainian offcial recalled that a concession is always accompanied by a tender, specifying that RST oversees the entire process of developing a project proposal.
Ukrdoninvest company, that belongs to the entrepreneur Vitaliy Kropachev, became the winner of the second privatization auction for the Belgorod-Dnestrovsky Commercial Sea Port.
Koshel-Repnevska considers the decision to privatize Belgorod-Dnestrovsky seaport justified, taking into account conclusions made by foreign experts who studied the possibility of a concession in this port. “According to the results, the experts came to the conclusion that it is inexpedient and unattractive for investment,†she said.
The first attempt to sell the seaport was made in early March, but it failed. The State Property Fund was unable to carry out the privatization – no participants applied.
