Ukraine launches largest port investment project: Details and prospects
Illustrative photo: port investments will total hundreds of millions of dollars (Getty Images)
Ukraine has launched the largest investment project in the port sector in the entire period of its independence. It involves hundreds of millions of foreign investments in ports and billions of dollars in revenues over the next forty years, according to Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction and Minister of Communities and Territories, Oleksii Kuleba.
"In Chornomorsk, together with Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, we launched the first public-private project in the port sector during the large-scale war," the statement said.
According to Kuleba, an order has already been signed to establish a tender committee. Leading global companies will compete in the tender. Documentation is also planned to be prepared with the participation of the IFC, the EBRR, and leading consultants — only after that will the tender be announced and an investor selected.
At the same time, the First and Container Terminals of Chornomorsk Port, the main assets of the tender, will remain state-owned. The investor will take on modernization and management under a long-term contract.
"The project is set to become the largest investment in the history of Ukrainian ports. Its scale involves hundreds of millions of dollars for the modernization of berths and equipment, over $1.1 billion in revenues to budgets over forty years, and more than a thousand jobs with guarantees for people. The project has already attracted interest from more than 40 international port operators and investors, ensuring high competition and the best conditions for the state," the minister assured.
It is planned that within three years, the volume of container shipments will exceed 250,000 containers per year, and eventually return to pre-war levels — over half a million.
Meanwhile, the enemy is attempting to destroy Ukrainian ports. On the night of September 2, Russian forces once again attacked the port infrastructure in the Izmail district.
Additionally, on the night of August 31, the Russian army attacked Chornomorsk with drones. According to the city’s mayor, Vasyl Huliaiev, it was the largest attack on the city since the full-scale war began. Russia targeted energy facilities, leaving Chornomorsk without power.
