Ukraine privatized seaport for the first time

For the first time in the history of Ukraine, a seaport was privatized. The final price for the Ust-Dunaysk port was UAH 201 million ($5.5 million).

According to the press service of the State Property Fund, the final price offer for the port was 3.3 times higher than the starting price, which was UAH 60 million.

As explained in the Fund, this result was achieved due to significant competition among entrepreneurs – 8 investors competed for the port. Now the winner has 20 working days to pay the lot price.

According to the Prozorro.Sale system, the winner of the auction was the “Elixir Ukraine” LLC.

It offered UAH 201 million 300 for the lot. Only 100 UAH less was offered by the “Vostok” Trading Company LLC. Another 100 UAH less was offered for the lot by the “Ukrdoninvest” LLC of entrepreneur Vitaliy Kropachev.

According to the state register, the owner of the “Elixir Ukraine” LLC is Valeriy Vikhrenko, it is engaged in the production and import of mineral fertilizers. According to the company’s website, “Elixir Ukraine” is the official representative of the Serbian manufacturer “Elixir Zorka” and sells complex mineral fertilizers in Ukraine.

As reported, the port put up for sale consists of three assets – the port itself in the city of Vilkovo, Odesa region, the port point “Kiliya” in the city of the same name and the base for servicing special vessels of lighter carriers on the island of Shabash. Directly loading and unloading operations are carried out in the port of Kiliya, which is located at 54 km of the Danube River. The passport depth at the berth is 3 m, the actual depth is 1.5 m.

After the outbreak of war, the port was blocked. However, on April 1, it resumed its work. Since then, the port has exported 153 thousand tons of grain. In addition, it handles imported cargo, such as salt and rice. In total, since April 1, the port has handled 58.3 thousand tons of imported consumer goods.

In January-September 2022, Ust-Dunaisk received UAH 848 thousand of net profit. In January-November, it paid more than UAH 9 million in taxes to the budgets of all levels.

As a reminder, Ukrainian ports of the Danube region (Izmail, Reni and Ust-Dunaisk) handled 14.5 million tons of cargo in January-November 2022, which is 2.9 times more than in the same period last year.