Ukraine puts Belgorod-Dniestrovsky port up for sale again at a 50% lower price

MOSCOW. March 9 (Interfax) - A new privatization auction for the sale of the Belgorod-Dniestrovsky Commercial Seaport in Ukraine's Odessa region is planned for March 13, now with a 50% cheaper starting price set at UAH 93.78 million, or $2.6 million at today's rate, compared with UAH 187.57 million at the previous auction, which was declared invalid.

Offers will be accepted until the evening of March 12, and the next day, at 1:30 p.m. Moscow Time, an English auction will be held with an increment of UAH 937,900, according to Ukrainian media, with a reference to the site's page on the Ukraine State Property Fund website.

As reported, the first auction scheduled for March 3 did not take place, likely due to the absence of the minimum allowable number of applications.

The port is located on the right bank of the Dniester Estuary, which is 42 km long and 4.5 to 12 km wide, and is connected by a strait to the Black Sea. The distance to Odessa is 80 km.

The fund noted earlier that the port is unprofitable, despite the fact that since 2022 it has played an important role as a logistics center for ports on the Danube. According to the State Property Fund, the port has great potential for the development of Ukrainian exports and requires investment in its development.

The Belgorod-Dniester port suspended operations in spring 2022, but in April, it re-opened in a new capacity - as a transport and logistics center for the Izmail, Reni and Ust-Danube Ukrainian ports. There are open cargo warehouses on its territory with an area of 180,000 sq. m. and covered cargo warehouses with an area of 12,500 sq. m., including ramps for railway cars and grain warehouses. The center is a customs territory with a full range of cargo handling services.

The Belgorod-Dniestrovsky port also has an extensive system of railway tracks with a 60-wagon storage siding and closed TIR parking for 200 vehicles.

Since May 2022, the enterprise has been shipping grain as well as transshipping iron ore pellets and metal products. In the six months since resuming operations, cargo handling at the port has increased 100 times compared to the same period in 2021. The port received more than 10,000 trucks and shipped out 4,000 railcars, which has eased traffic on the road infrastructure to the ports of Izmail and Reni significantly. All products were sent for export.

The port also specializes in the transshipment of timber cargo, mineral fertilizers, iron ore pellets, metal products and grain cargo.

Vessels enter via the approach channel of the Dniester-Tsaregorodsky duct, which is 1.5 km long and the Dniester-Limansky part, 14.5 km. long. The depth of the approach channel is 3 m, or 3.5-4.5 m per its passport. A single property complex is located on the territory of 64.4 hectares.

The State Property Fund earlier sold an integrated manufacturing complex of the Ust-Danube port for UAH 200 million, or $5.5 million. Its price increased three times during the auction.

The official exchange rate as of March 9 is UAH 36.57/$1.