The State Property Fund is privatizing another port, SE "Bilhorod-Dniester Sea Trade Port". An auction has been announced, the starting price is UAH 187.6 million

On March 3, the State Property Fund will hold a privatization auction for the sale of SE "Bilhorod-Dniester Sea Trade Port". Bidding will take place on Prozorro.Sale. The starting price is UAH 187.6 million (excluding VAT). The guarantee fee for participation in the auction is UAH 37.5 million (excluding VAT).

"This is the second privatization of the sea ports since Independence. Attracting a private investor for the unprofitable Bilhorod-Dniester Sea Trade Port is an impetus for the development of its infrastructure and the creation of additional jobs," Dmytro Klimenkov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, who personally inspected the port's readiness for privatization last week, said.

In recent years, Bilhorod-Dniester Sea Trade Port has shown significant losses. In 2019-2021, the loss ranged from UAH 23.5 million to UAH 28.5 million. A negative trend was observed in 2022. In January-September last year, the port received a loss of UAH 2.9 million.

In addition, as of September 30, 2022, the port has accumulated UAH 104.7 million overdue accounts payable. Most of the debts on taxes: on wages (UAH 27.3 million) and on real estate (UAH 23.6 million).

The port also owes UAH 13.7 million in wages. Since 2019, 88 employees have quitted the port. FromJanuary to September 2022, there were 148 employees working.

Now, due to the full-scale invasion of russian troops, Bilhorod-Dniester Sea Trade Port is blocked from the sea. However, it hasn’t stopped. Here is the transshipment of goods in the status of "dry port".

Bilhorod-Dniester Sea Trade Port is located on the western bank of the Dniester estuary, on 59 hectares of the main territory of the port (has access to nine berths) and more than 5 hectares of the territory of the port point Buhaz (one berth) in the village of Zatoka.

The port also includes nine vessels, four diesel locomotives, 18 gantry cranes and 56 vehicles (someof them areleased).

The buyer of the port is obliged to pay off wage and budget debts within six months. Also, he will not be able to lay off employees on his own initiative during this period.

The starting price is calculated on the basis of the book value of the port's assets. During the period of the martial law, no investment obligations are imposed on the buyer of the port.

The sale of Bilhorod-Dniester Sea Trade Port will be the second privatization of aseaport since the Independence of Ukraine. On January 17, the State Property Fund held an auction for the sale of SE "Sea Trade Port of Ust-Dunaisk". The winner offered UAH 201 million for it. This is 3.3 times the starting price.