The State Property Fund of Ukraine (PFMU) is not resting on its laurels after the successful sale of the Ust-Dunaisk port and announces its intention to continue the privatization of the port infrastructure on the strategically important Danube River. The next step will be to put up for sale the object, which currently functions as a dry port.
About this reported Vitaly Koval, head of the FSMU.
“The development of the Danube port cluster is one of our priorities. We see significant potential in this industry and are committed to attracting investment to modernize and improve the efficiency of the ports“.
The head of the FSMU did not disclose the details of the specific object that is being prepared for sale, but noted that it is an already operational dry port that provides transshipment of cargo between different modes of transport.
“We are sure that there will be an investor who will be able to make the most of the potential of this asset and contribute to the further development of logistics on the Danube“, – added Koval.
The auction for the sale of the port “Ust-Dunaisk” in January 2023 became the first precedent for the privatization of a sea port in the history of Ukraine and demonstrated the significant interest of investors in this sector.
After the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia and the blockade of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, the importance of the Danube port cluster has increased significantly. It has become an important transport corridor for the export of Ukrainian products, in particular grain.
FDMU expects that the privatization of the dry port on the Danube will contribute to increasing the throughput capacity of river ports, improving logistics processes and attracting new technologies to the industry.
Belgorod-Dniester port: a history of unsuccessful auctions
It is worth noting that FSMU has repeatedly tried to sell the single property complex of the state enterprise “Bilhorod-Dniester Sea Trade Port”, but all attempts ended in failure.
The first auction, scheduled for March 3, 2023, did not take place due to a lack of bids. The next auction took place on March 13, with a halved price, and the port was sold for UAH 220 million to the Ukrdoninvest company. However, the buyer refused the agreement at the stage of approval of the sales contract.
In the summer of 2023, the FSMU again scheduled an auction, but a buyer was never found.
Successful example: Ust-Dunaisk port
The sale of the Ust-Dunaisk port in January 2023 for UAH 201 million remains the only successful example of seaport privatization in Ukraine. The final offer exceeded the starting price by 3.3 times, which indicates the significant interest of investors in this sector. Elixir Ukraine became the new owner of the port.
