Ust-Luga Company to form pool of investors in 2014
ST. PETERSBURG. July 25 (Interfax) - A pool of investors to develop the port of Ust-Luga might be fully formed in 2014, Valery Izrailit, chairman of the board of directors at Ust-Luga Company, told reporters.
An investment rationale to form a major grain company is being put together, and one investor is thinking of building a bulk cargo terminal, Izrailit said.
Both existing and planned terminals could drive an expected increase in cargo traffic at the port in the years to come.
Traffic is "better than expected" and should reach 66 million-67 million tonnes this year, he said. "Traffic will definitely increase in 2014. All ports are handling more, and we are growing faster than the market. The market average is 5%, but we are growing 50%," Izrailit said.
The port is being built on the Gulf of Finland. Ust-Luga Company coordinates efforts to bring in investment for terminals construction. The port will specialize in the storage and trans-shipment of coal, general and bulk cargo, forest products and containers and have 12 terminals in all.
Izrailit also said that Ust-Luga Company was thinking of setting a separate company up to develop the area around the port. Shareholders will vote on the new spin-off, to be known as OJSC Ust-Luga Industrial Zone, in September.
Investment in the industrial zone could run to 60 billion rubles, Izrailit said. A cornerstone investor for the zone could be named by early next year, he said, without naming any interested companies.
The zone could specialize in oil or gas processing. "We haven't signed any agreements yet," Izrailit said, adding that either project would need hundreds of billions of rubles of investment.
