A new privatization auction for the sale of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Commercial Sea Port (NCSP, Odesa region) is scheduled for March 13. The starting price of the property has been halved from UAH 187.57 million to UAH 93.78 million, according to the property’s page on the State Property Fund’s website. According to the published information, the acceptance of bids from buyers will end at 20:00 on March 12, and the next day at 12:30 an English auction will be held with a minimum bid step of UAH 937,871.2.
As reported, the first auction for the sale of the port with a starting price of UAH 187.57 million scheduled for March 3 did not take place, the probable reason for the failure of the auction is the absence of at least two bids.
Earlier, the Fund noted that the port is unprofitable, but since 2022, the company “plays an important role in ensuring global food security as a logistics center for ports on the Danube.” According to the head of the SPF, Rustem Umerov, the port has great potential for the development of Ukrainian exports and needs investment in development.
According to the SPF, in 2019-2021, the net loss of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi ICC amounted to approximately UAH 23.5-28.5 million, and in January-September 2022 – UAH 2.9 million. The volume of sales of products (works, services) for the period of 2019-nine months of 2022 amounted to UAH 80.8 million, including UAH 9.2 million for export.
The total overdue accounts payable amounted to UAH 104.6 million, including UAH 13.66 million in salary arrears. As of December 1, 2022, the debt to the State Tax Service amounted to UAH 59.6 million, including UAH 57.9 million in tax debt and UAH 1.7 million in penalties.
The terms of the port sale stipulate that the port must pay off its wage and budget arrears within six months in the amount that will be available as of the date of transfer of ownership of the privatization object. In addition, during the same period (six months), the employees of the privatized enterprise may not be dismissed at the initiative of the buyer or its authorized bodies, except in cases where the employee commits actions provided for in paragraphs 3, 4, 7, 8 of Part 1 of Articles 40 and 41 of the Labor Code.
Since April 1, 2022, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi seaport has been used as a logistics center for ports on the Danube. It receives cargo by truck and then ships it in railcars. In May of the same year, the company started shipping grain, transshipping iron ore pellets and transshipping metal products. In the six months after the reopening, cargo transshipment at the MTP increased 100 times compared to 2021. The port received more than 10 thousand trucks and shipped 4 thousand railcars by rail, which significantly eased the load on the country’s road infrastructure to the ports of Izmail and Reni (Odesa region). All products were exported.
Founded in 1971, Belgorod-Dniester Commercial Sea Port specializes in transshipment of timber, mineral fertilizers, iron ore pellets, metal products, and grain cargo. According to its charter, its core business is auxiliary water transport services.
The port’s balance sheet includes nine vessels of the port fleet, 47 units of road and 4 units of rail transport, 18 portal cranes and special equipment: 41 forklifts, four excavators, three bulldozers, a pneumatic crane, and a compressor. A part of the port’s property (28 items, including real estate and vehicles) is leased with the expiration date of the existing lease agreements being 6.09.2027. The port has six registered land plots with a total area of 65.63 thousand hectares.
According to the decision of the Odesa Customs Service, a temporary customs control zone has been established on the territory of the port facilities.
Vessels enter the port through the 1.5 km long approach channel of the offshore part of the Dniester-Tsaregorod estuary and the 14.5 km long Dniester-Liman part. The depth of the approach channel is 3 m (passport depth is 3.4-4.5 m). The single property complex is located on the territory of 64.4 hectares at the following addresses: 81 Shabska Street, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district, Zatoka village, 93 Zolotyi Bereg Street, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district, Zatoka village, 1 Primorskaya Street.
Earlier, the SPF sold the integral property complex of the Ust-Dunay port for UAH 200 million on the Prozorro electronic platform. During the auction, its price tripled.
