The auction for the privatization of the Bilhorod-Dnister port will be held in August: details

Already in August, the auction for the privatization of the single property complex of SE “Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Sea Trade Port” will be held.

Auctions will be held on August 7. The starting price of the object for the conditional auction is UAH 184.9 million (excluding VAT). The size of the guarantee fee is UAH 36.9 million (without VAT), the announcement on “Prozorro.Prodazhi” says.

The starting price of the lot for the auction with a reduction in the starting price is UAH 92.4 million (without VAT). The guarantee contribution in this case will amount to UAH 18.4 million.

The buyer must obtain permission from the Antimonopoly Committee to directly or indirectly acquire ownership of assets in the form of a single property complex (concentration permit).

Termination of the legal entity – SE “Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Sea Trade Port” – must be carried out no later than 1 year after the transfer of ownership.

Also, the future owner of the port is obliged to ensure within six months from the date of transfer of ownership:

• repayment of the port’s debts from wages to the budget in the amount that

• will be made on the date of transfer of ownership of the object of privatization;

• preventing the dismissal of port employees at the initiative of the buyer or the body authorized by him (with the exception of actions by the employee for which dismissal is provided.

In the first quarter of 2023, the total income of the port amounted to UAH 7.3 million (for the main activity — UAH 6.78 million).

As of March 31, the company’s total current payables amount to UAH 125.8 million. Debt for salaries and payments to the budget — 96.3 million UAH (including interest — 1.7 million UAH).

We will remind you that this is already the fifth attempt of the State Property Fund to privatize the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi port. The first auction was supposed to take place on March 3, but no one applied for participation. The second auction took place on March 13, but the winner did not pay for the lot.

The third auction on June 6 was not held due to the lack of participants. The fourth, on June 14, did not take place for the same reason.

The port needs investment and modernization to start full operation. This is possible only thanks to the involvement of a private investor.

Previously, USM reported that the workforce of SE “BDMTP” may remain without salaries due to the company’s conflict with tax officials. The tax service of the Odesa region forcibly debited almost 850,000 hryvnias from the company’s accounts, which were intended for the salaries of port employees.

It is important that the new owner of the port, who will be chosen during the privatization procedure, must fully repay the debts from salaries and taxes within 6 months after the purchase of the object. Therefore, the tax service has practically no risks that after privatization the new owner of the port will not pay the debts to the budget.