QTerminals, a joint venture between Mwani Qatar and Milaha, on Thursday inked a concession pact with Ukraine, following which it will invest $140mn to develop the Olvia port as part of expanding its operations in the Black Sea region.

A concession agreement for the development and operation of the Olvia Port was initialled by QTerminals Qatar chief executive Neville Bissett; QTerminals SC Olvia executive director Mohammed al-Lahham; Ukrainian State Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure Buchko Volodymyr Anatoliiovych; and acting head of Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority (USPA) Holodnytskyi Oleksandr Hryhorovych.

The agreement initialing was witnessed by the Minister of Transport and Communications HE Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti and the Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure Vladyslav Kryklii at a virtual signing ceremony in Doha and Kiev via videoconferencing. It was also attended by Milaha chairman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, Qatar’s Ambassador to Ukraine Hadi bin Nasser al-Hajri and Ukraine’s Ambassador to Qatar Andrii Kuzmenko.

Olvia Port, which has been witnessing a significant year-on-year increase in grain and oil exports, spans an area of 140 hectares and has seven berths and a rail network for transporting cargo inside the port, besides several warehouses and storage areas. Its quayside is 1,530m long.

The term of the concession is for 35 years, until 2056, during which QTerminals will invest about $140mn to develop the port over the next five years, of which $3.5mn 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.

“This concession is a major achievement for QTerminals that honours its strategy for expanding overseas investments as a Qatari company specialised in seaport management,” al-Sulaiti said.

This is a "significant" investment opportunity in one of Ukraine’s important Black Sea ports and the development works that QTerminals will carry out at the port will contribute to supporting its operations and relevant navigational and logistics services, thus enhancing its operational revenues and helping the port to become an international hub for the grain trade.

"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," he said.

For Ukraine, the pact is another significant step on widening and unlocking the potential of the Olvia port, as QTerminals will pay concessions and other fees to the country annually, in addition to creating new jobs needed by the local community in Mykolaiv.



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