The Nikolaev Alumina Refinery (NAR), controlled by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, has secured a preferential lease extension from the state for the Dnieper-Bug port, which is critical to the oligarch's global business.
According to a Hubs article, leasing a port with a cargo turnover of 4 million tons will cost only about 1 million hryvnias per month.
The previous lease expired on April 1, 2014, and NGZ insisted on continuing the lease for the same term—15 years. The State Property Fund demanded the property be returned, but NGZ asked the court to extend the lease for the berths under the same terms.
On June 17, the Kyiv Commercial Court prohibited the State Property Fund, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority from carrying out any actions with the disputed property that could violate the interests of the plant.
On August 18, the court extended the contract for another 15 years under the same conditions.
"The reason is simple: the lease expired on April 1st, and by law, the State Property Fund had one month to demand the return of the property. According to the case materials, the Fund's letter demanding the return was dated April 30th, but it was not sent to the company until May 7th," writes the Hubs author.
On October 16, the appellate court upheld the verdict of the Kyiv Commercial Court, and on December 23, the Supreme Commercial Court confirmed the victory of Deripaska's plant.
It's not yet known whether the Fund will appeal this verdict in the Supreme Court. "The decision will be made after the holidays; there's still time," said one of the SPF employees.
The state receives 11 million hryvnias per year from rent, Mykolaiv Oblast Governor Mykola Romanchuk announced earlier this year. His statement was confirmed by the State Property Fund.
In terms of transshipment volume, the Dnipro-Bug Port is comparable to Rinat Akhmetov's Avlita Port. Last year, this port handled 2,9 million tons of metal and 1,4 million tons of grain, generating UAH 324 million in revenue. Net profit from the port's operations amounted to UAH 64 million, six times more than Ukraine receives for the lease of the Dnipro-Bug Port from Deripaska.
As a reminder, Oleg Deripaska became the only Russian billionaire whose assets did not decrease during the 2014 crisis, but increased by $855 million.
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