Reducing dividends to 30% for USPA (Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority) and state stevedores – a new initiative of MIU

The Ministry of Infrastructure has initiated a reduction in dividend payments from the USPA and state stevedores from 80% to 30%.

Yesterday, at a meeting of the National Reforms Council led by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov presented the key reforms that the port industry requires. The first is the rehabilitation of the port infrastructure.

In the next 5 years, about UAH 17 billion (USD 632.2 million) of capital investment is needed to renovate Ukrainian ports. This refers to strategic infrastructure, the development of which is the responsibility of the state.

“While the port infrastructure of the EU and other neighboring countries is subsidized by the state, in Ukraine for years they not only did not support, but also took funds, which should be directed to support and develop infrastructure to the state budget. As a result, the extent of wear of the port infrastructure has reached a record 80%,” the minister said.

The Ministry of Infrastructure initiated a change in the dividend policy – a decrease in payments from the USPA and state stevedores to the country’s budget to the level of 30%. Now it is 80% of the profit after all taxes have been paid.

“Such changes will allow  to cover the need for capital investments more than half, which will give an impetus to the development of international trade and the economy as a whole. We also use various scenarios of interaction with investors, the most priority of which is the concession,” commented Alexander Kubrakov.