Some investors, who wish to remain anonymous, are persistently trying to gain entry into the Reni port with a dubious business project. Moreover, this project is being lobbied no less aggressively by those close to Odesa Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili. This was stated by Reni Mayor Igor Plekhov at a press conference for local journalists.
"A strange investment project has been lingering for eight months now. Some investors have emerged who want to take over the port's second and third cargo areas and install a railcar dumper there. However, all our attempts to meet with these investors or even simply find out who they are have been met with the answer: 'Commercial secret.' We've already met three times with an official close to Odesa Oblast Governor Saakashvili about this, but we've been unable to solve the investors' 'riddle,'" said Igor Plekhov. "Therefore, the Reni City Executive Committee is not yet ready to officially approve this project at the port. Our position is this: we will not sign any documents for those who simply want to enter the port and seize its prime territory. I'd like to remind you that the second cargo area is the most developed in terms of infrastructure, and it has recently begun to operate more actively."
Today, all we know is that, according to the documents, the company "Partner-Trans" is acting on behalf of the investors—it was this company that officially submitted its project to the city council. The former head of the Reni port, Alexei Kuzmenko, is directly involved with this company. After he was fired, some Greeks began representing the project's interests. Then the Greeks disappeared and the Baltics appeared. But, again, we don't know who is behind them—they are acting under a power of attorney.
As far as we know, the project involves handling containers and bulk cargo. However, when the business plan was discussed with port representatives, they said the Danube is a unique transport artery with an established market, and all market participants know each other well. As the saying goes, strangers don't come here. And when someone "mysterious" comes to the Danube, it always arouses suspicion. So, port specialists also tried to find out who the investors were and received the same answer: "Commercial secret."
The only thing we know with more certainty is that the project's business plan calls for an investment of $10 million. But, again, for some reason, capital investments are scheduled until 2030. Why? We don't know. What will happen in the near future? We also don't know. We only know that investors are laying claim to the port's most desirable lands."
The mayor noted that, along with regional officials, the project is being actively lobbied by the head of the Reni branch of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority, Serhiy Stroya (the same man who has been linked to a number of scandals recently; in particular, he was accused of obstructing the port fleet's operations by giving the green light to foreign tugboats, as well as protecting the interests of entities in the Reni special economic zone to the detriment of the port's interests – A.P.).
"I'd like to return to Kuzmenko. He was the first to announce that there were interested parties in installing a railcar dumper for coal transshipment in the port's second district, as well as facilities for handling grain cargo. The third district is supposedly planned to house storage tanks for natural gas transshipment," added Reni Deputy Mayor Andrey Lantinov. "But I asked the investors' representatives: what kind of railcar dumper are we talking about if, to be profitable, it needs to handle at least 300 railcars per shift? Where will that kind of cargo flow come from? They replied: it's a matter of our development. Meanwhile, the authorized capital of Partner-Trans is 10 hryvnias. I think the true goal of these so-called investors is to enter the second district and lease it, after which Partner-Trans, rather than the port, will provide services to SEZ entities and other private companies. Naturally, in such a situation, the city council refuses to sign the relevant documents with the investors. In response, pressure is being exerted on the city government from the regional state administration.
We're not against investors. If they have their own cargo flows, then go ahead—let them use the port's facilities and get to work. We'll see what happens. If we see cargo turnover increasing and investors need new capacity and space, we'll consider possible options. However, the question is posed the other way around...
Interestingly, these investors are opposed by the port's trade union, Igor Antimonov, deputy head of the Reni branch of the USPU, and even Serhiy Belyuk, head of the district state administration, who promised to attract investment to the port from the very beginning of his tenure. Nevertheless, this dubious project is being pushed through with surprising persistence. Reports have already appeared on Odesa television channels accusing the Reni mayor's office of obstructing investors.
According to A. Lantinov, the City Council seriously fears that the ultimate goal of this scam is a hostile takeover of the port's second cargo area. "It could all be done quite simply. First, a lease, then fictitious capital investments, and ultimately, the opportunity to buy the facility for next to nothing, at its residual value," the deputy mayor stated.
In turn, the editorial staff of the online newspaper "Topor" managed to learn something about the company "Partner-trans", which, with a high degree of probability, is a shell company for two offshore companies.
According to the Unified Register of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Partner-Trans LLC is registered in the city of Reni in the Odessa region by two offshore companies: World Port Management BV (Netherlands) and AIG Logistics Worldwide Corp. (Seychelles), with authorized shares of UAH 950,95 and UAH 50,05, respectively. Given the foreign jurisdiction of these companies, it is impossible to identify the ultimate beneficiary, which is what attracts many businessmen.
It is noteworthy that, according to registration documents, the contact phone number for Partner-Trans LLC is the mobile phone number "+38 063 361 89 02." This contact phone number also appears in the registration documents of INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT LLC (Kyiv, Heroiv Dnepra Street, Building 36-A, Apt. 47), whose founders are Andrey Valerievich Kotov and Dmitry Aleksandrovich Volovik. INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT LLC provides financial consulting, accounting, commercial consulting, and management consulting services. In addition, the same telephone number “+38 063 361 89 02” is listed in the contact information of a certain company “Fin24” (www.fin24.com.ua), which is not registered with the Ministry of Justice. It is located at the registered address of INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT LLC and provides services in accounting support for businesses, financial consulting and registration.
In such a situation, the question arises as to why the team of reformers is trying to advance the interests of a shell company with direct ties to offshore companies.
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The author of these lines contacted Dmitry Volodin, Director of the Reni Sea Trade Port State Enterprise (RSTP State Enterprise), asking him to comment on the situation surrounding the mysterious investors. Dmitry Nikolaevich promised to call me and set up a meeting. But he didn't. I called him back, and he again promised to get in touch. However, he never did.
Author: Andrey POTYLIKO
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