Occupants put Crimean ports for sale to develop yacht tourism

In Crimea, the occupation authorities have put up for sale 100% of the shares in the companies that manage the ports of Yalta and Yevpatoria, despite the low utilization due to sanctions. The facilities are likely to be used for tourist or passenger purposes, as there are no prospects for cargo traffic growth.

This was reported by Holos Kryma.

On July 2, the occupying Ministry of Property and Land Relations of the Republic of Crimea put up for sale 100% of the shares of companies that manage the "nationalized" seaports in Yalta and Yevpatoria. The starting price of the lots is RUB 1.49 billion (approximately UAH 790 million) and RUB 192.9 million (approximately UAH 103 million), respectively. Applications will be accepted until July 28, and the auction itself is scheduled for August 1.

In addition to the ports of Yalta and Yevpatoria, the so-called authorities formally control the ports of Kerch and Feodosia, which are federally owned by Russia.

Currently, all Crimean ports are operating at extremely low capacity due to a shortage of vessels willing to call under sanctions pressure. As noted in the media, the occupiers hope to turn the ports into centers of passenger transportation and yacht tourism. However, market experts doubt the realism of such expectations due to a lack of demand.

The self-proclaimed Crimean authorities have admitted that the region's seaports are used at less than 10% of their capacity, but continue to announce plans to develop cruise and yacht tourism, despite the lack of a fleet of their own on the peninsula and in Russia and the existence of numerous sanctions restrictions.

The Yalta seaport has a water area of 12.15 hectares, a passenger terminal with an annual capacity of 1.3 million people, and a cargo terminal for transshipment of bulk and general cargo. The Yevpatoria port covers 51,500 square meters and specializes in transshipment of general and bulk cargo. Presumably, both facilities can be purchased for conversion to tourist or passenger purposes, as there are no prerequisites for cargo traffic growth at the moment.

Russia also plans to build a port and a railroad in the annexed Crimea, a project that will be implemented with the participation of Chinese companies. It is planned to be built near Kerch and Lake Donuzlav with a possible investment of up to $10 billion.

The occupation administration intends to invite Chinese representatives for on-site negotiations. Meanwhile, Ukrainian intelligence has called on the international community to prevent foreign companies from participating in illegal projects in the temporarily occupied territories.

Анна Бальчінос