For the further development of seaports, the government has defined two main mechanisms - concession and privatization. Pilot concession projects in the ports of Olvia and Kherson started last year. The next step is the privatization of small ports "Ust-Dunaysk", Belgorod-Dnestrovsky and Skadovsk.
Taras Eleyko, Deputy Chairman of the State Property Fund (FGI), spoke about the privatization of these ports.
"These are small regional ports that require large investments and are currently not in the best condition. Some of them do not function normally now. Therefore, the government decided to use such a model as privatization. Of course, if we are talking about large, strategic ports for the state, then the concession looks like a higher priority. When we are talking about small objects that are not important for the state, it is expedient to choose a model of privatization and transfer of the object to a private owner," he noted.
However, there are also problems that greatly complicate the privatization of ports in Ukraine - most of them are stuck in courts, bails and arrests.
"The most difficult situation is in the port of Skadovsk, because, according to the state registry, all the property of the port is now under arrest. Also, part of the port is still in AMPU, and now we are working on the transfer process to form a complete property complex of the port. And, probably, Skadovsk will be the last of the three ports transferred to privatization, since the other two ports are now better prepared for this process. I think that we will still be able to announce the privatization auction for this port at the end of this year, but the change of ownership will take place already in 2022.
As for the port "Ust-Dunaysk", as of today, almost all property has been transferred to the balance of the port. We are now starting the process of inventorying this property and hope that an auction will be announced at the beginning of the third quarter.
The situation is the same in the Belgorod-Dnestrovsky port. The only issue is that there are several arrests and now we are working on removing them in order to put the port up for auction. We expect that this will also happen in the beginning — the middle of the third quarter," said Taras Eleyko.
He also voiced the algorithm of actions on the part of potential buyers.
"To begin with, you need to go to the privatization.gov.ua website and subscribe to these ports, if you are interested in them. Then the investor will receive a notification when the auction will be announced. Next, it is necessary to study all the information about the object of interest and the conditions of sale. You can familiarize yourself with all the procedures also on the specified site. After that, in order to participate in the auction, it is necessary to register on any of the more than forty sites that are connected to Prozorro.Prodazhi, participate in the auction and, in case of winning, pay the price of the object and obtain the permission of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU). After that, the investor will be able to take ownership of the object," Taras Eleyko emphasized.
Also, the state has two clear requirements for investors. First: the investor must have a completely transparent and open ownership structure. Second: the buyer must not be associated with the aggressor country.
