AMCU permit for the concession of the Olvia Seaport is a strong positive signal for investors, says Vladyslav Kryklii

The AMCU's permit for the Olvia Seaport concession is a strong signal to investors. This was stated by Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladyslav Kryklii, commenting on the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) on the permit for QTerminals of Qatar to concession the seaport of Olbia.

"We are keeping the track of a practical implementation of large-scale public-private partnership projects and the involvement of strategic investors in the transport infrastructure through a concession mechanism. And the first concession pilot projects caught the attention of a number of potential investors who were looking too closely at how capable we were of developing attractive projects and holding fair competitions. The positive decision of the AMCU confirms that the concession project was efficient and developed in line with the best international standards and applicable national legislation, while the competition was conducted fairly and transparently. Therefore, the permit of the AMCU for the concession of the Olvia Seaport is a strong positive signal to investors that they can and must invest in Ukraine. We have what to offer, and we have something they can fight for in honest competition," said Vladyslav Kryklii.

As a reminder, the winner of the concession competition in the port of Olvia was QTerminals from Qatar, which has to invest UAH 3.4 billion in the development of the port infrastructure during five years.

An important condition of the concession agreement was the need to obtain the permit from the AMCU.

In late January 2020, the AMCU received an application from QTerminals W.L.L. (Doha, Qatar) for the indirect receipt of the assets belonging to the State Enterprise "Stevedoring Company Olivia" (Mykolaiv) and SE "Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority" (Mykolaiv), which jointly exercise activities for the provision of stevedoring services at the Specialized Seaport "Olvia", in concession.

Taking into account that the concentration does not entail monopolization or significant restriction of competition in the commodity markets of Ukraine, the AMCU granted permission for the declared concentration.