Sulaiti and Ukrainian minister witness Olvia Port’s 35-year concession deal signing
- 4 years ago
Qatar’s Minister of Transport and Communications HE Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti and Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Kryklii witnessed the initiation of a 35-year concession agreement for the development and operation of the S.C. Olvia Port-Ukraine, between QTerminals Qatar, QTerminals S.C. Olvia, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and the State Enterprise Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (SE USPA) during a virtual signing ceremony in Doha and Kiev via videoconferencing.
The event was attended by Chairman of Qatar Navigation (Milaha) HE Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, Qatar’s Ambassador to Ukraine HE Hadi bin Nasser Al Hajri and Ukraine’s Ambassador to Qatar HE Andrii Kuzmenko.
The agreement was initialed by QTerminals Qatar CEO Neville Bissett, QTerminals S.C Olvia Executive Director Mohammed Al Lahham, Ukrainian State Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure Buchko Volodymyr Anatoliiovych and Acting Head of SE USPA Holodnytskyi Oleksandr Hryhorovych.
The term of the concession is 35 years, until 2056, during which QTerminals will invest about $140 million to develop the port over the next five years provided that $3.5 million out of that amount is allocated for the restoration of local infrastructure of Mykolaiv, the city where the port is located.
Additionally, during the first five years of the concession, QTerminals will invest in establishing a new fully-equipped grain terminal, improve existing warehouses, modernise the road and telecommunications networks and all Olvia utilities and buildings, and set up silos and loading equipment for all modes of transportation, such as railway and freight lines. Speaking on the occasion, Sulaiti stressed the strong relations between Qatar and Ukraine and the high level of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
“This concession is a major achievement for QTerminals that honours its strategy for expanding overseas investments as a Qatari company specialised in seaport management,” he said.
He noted that awarding the concession is a significant investment opportunity in one of Ukraine’s most important Black Sea ports, stressing that all development works that QTerminals will carry out at the Port of Olvia will contribute to supporting its operations and relevant navigational and logistics services to meet the highest world standards in such a way that will enhance its operational revenues and provide opportunity for the port to succeed in becoming an international hub for grain trade.
The minister added that this step will bolster the economic cooperation with Ukrainian and international companies and contribute to supporting the operations of the maritime line between Ukrainian ports and Hamad Port, thus supporting the goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030.
This investment, he noted, will represent a turning point in QTerminals’ contributions to the sustainability of the national economy and the support for efforts to leverage Qatar’s competitiveness on the world map.
He said re-profiling the infrastructure in the region and developing it in such a way that responds to QTerminals’ aspirations and ambitions will give considerable impetus to the development of the region at large.
For Ukraine, the agreement is another significant step on the way to widening and re-unlocking the potential of the Port of Olvia, as the company will pay concessions and other fees to the country annually, in addition to QTerminals creating hundreds of new jobs needed by the local community in the city of Mykolaiv.
Bissett said the agreement is “the first brick in our strategy of international expansion. We have the power, determination, desire and experience to strengthen cooperation between Qatar and Ukraine in port production in the Black Sea basin and we look forward to achieving this in a short period of time.”
“We are convinced and confident that the strong management of QTerminals, together with capabilities and expertise of Ukrainian ports will lead to fruitful results and a reality that is built on all factors of success, which we all look forward to,” he added.
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