The deal on the sale of the Belgorod-Dniester port is in danger of failure: what is the reason?

The deal to privatize the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi seaport is once again at risk of failure.

According to Forbes, the Top Offer company, which won the auction on November 7, transferred UAH 108 million to the account of the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) at the last minute. This company was supposed to deposit the funds by December 5, but the situation was complicated by the change of its beneficiary.

On November 28, businessman Volodymyr Prodyvus, formerly a member of the Party of Regions and head of the Ukrainian Boxing Federation, became the new owner of Top Offer. Because of this, the deal is now undergoing additional scrutiny, including an analysis of the origin of the money. According to Maxim Ravchak, a representative of the SPFU, there is a risk that the sale agreement may be canceled. The deadline for signing the agreement is December 12.

In November, the State Property Fund finally managed to sell the only property complex of the State Enterprise "Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Commercial Sea Port" at a privatization auction.

The only participant in the e-auction was a little-known company, TOP-Offer LLC, which was formed in December 2023. At that time, its owner was Yevhen Bohuslavskyi from Kyiv. The company offered a fund of UAH 108 million 120 thousand at a starting price of UAH 88 million 986.2 thousand.

On March 13, 2023, the State Property Fund of Ukraine successfully held an auction for the sale of the State Enterprise "Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Commercial Sea Port". The highest price of UAH 220.01 million was offered by Ukrdoninvest LLC, which belonged to Vitaliy Kropachov's Ukrdoninvest financial group, specializing in the energy sector, including coal mining and processing.

However, in May 2023, the State Property Fund announced a new auction on June 6, as Ukrdoninvest LLC, having won the previous tender, failed to pay for the port.

Earlier, Oksana Kiktenko, director of the Belgorod-Dniester ICC, said that the main reason why businesses are not interested in the property complex is the extremely negative condition of the property and facilities that remain in the state.

Ірина Глухова