On 13 March, the State Property Fund held an online privatization auction for the sale of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyy Commercial Seaport. The auction was held in the state system Prozorro.Sale, the SPF press service has said.
The winner of the auction offered UAH 220 million. During the auction, the value of the port increased 2.3 times (from UAH 93.8 million of the starting price). Three bidders competed for the asset.
In recent years, the port of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyy has been showing significant losses. In 2019-2021, the loss ranged from UAH 23.5 to UAH 28.5 million. A negative trend was also observed in 2022. In January-September last year, the port posted a UAH 2.9 million loss.
"In 2023, the State Property Fund took a historic step - for the first time, it privatized state-owned ports which have been unprofitable for years. Attracting private investors to unprofitable ports should give an impetus to the modernization of port infrastructure. This will increase their capacity and the competitiveness of Ukrainian products, as well as have a positive impact on Ukraine's export revenues," said Rustem Umerov, head of the SPF.
The winner now has 20 business days to pay the lot price after the auction is completed. Only after the funds have been transferred to the budget will the sale and purchase agreement be signed.
According to Interfax-Ukraine, the winner of the auction is Ukrdoninvest, a company owned by businessman Vitaliy Kropachov. Other bidders were Port Ackerman, which refused to compete at a price higher than the starting price, and Mostobud UA, which also offered UAH 220 million but lost due to a lower initial bid.
On 17 January, the State Property Fund held a privatization auction to sell the Ust-Dunaysk port. During the auction, the value of the asset tripled to UAH 201 million. Eight entrepreneurs took part in the auction.
The SPF has scheduled 14 auctions for March.