Three flags of Ukraine, the People's Republic of China and the company COFCO Agri – are proudly fluttering at the highest point of grain silos. They are crowning one of the largest terminals of Mykolaiv Sea Commercial Port, which was officially launched on May 19, and became the first infrastructure project in Ukraine completely realized at the expense of Chinese investments. Up-to-date terminal warmly welcomes its guests, and its silos metal sides are shining in the bright sun.
Only 20 months have passed since driving of the first pile until the opening ceremony of the modern transshipment complex, which is located at the berths #1 and #2 in Mykolaiv Sea Commercial Port. The project construction covered 75 mln USD of investments from the Chinese company COFCO Agri. The general capacities of the new terminal total 2 mln tonnes per year.
Nearly 100 guests visited the event on opening of the terminal, including agricultural producers, traders, logistician, officials, etc. The Vice President of COFCO Corporation, Chi Jingtao became the special guest. During his opening speech, he stressed the high significance of Ukraine as the logistics center on the way of trade flows between Europe and Asia. According to him, Ukraine is known worldwide not only for its black earth soil, but also the status of Europe's breadbasket. In addition, the unique geographical position of Ukraine gives the right to be called as a bridge between Europe and Asia. The history of economic cooperation between Ukraine and China covers many years. In particular, the cooperation started deepening in several recent years, when the project "One train - one way" began developing, where Ukraine is one of the logistics centers.
In addition, Ch.Jingtao noted that construction of a modern terminal is one of the steps towards the company goal, which will allow achieving the synergy between the global consumer market and Ukraine, as one of the most powerful regions in production and exports of high-quality products.
In many countries the storage capacities for grain of the company COFCO already exceeded the level of 30 mln tonnes. The production and processing volumes of agricultural products exceeded 90 mln tonnes, and the general volumes of cargo shipment at COFCO terminals exceeded 53 mln tonnes. Taking into account the new terminal, the general shipment capacities will exceed 55 mln tonnes, Ch.Jingtao concluded.
Also, the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Yaroslav Krasnopolskiy, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Yuriy Vaskov, the Chairman of the Mykolaiv regional state administration, Volodymyr Merikov, the Honorary president of the Mykolaiv Sea Commercial Port, Vasily Kapatsina, and the CEO of the group of companies COFCO Agri in Ukraine, Volodymyr Osadchuk, took part in the official opening ceremony.
During his speech, V.Osadchuk said that the new terminal of the company COFCO Agri completely meets the highest standards of quality, environmental control and labour safety. Thanks to Chinese investments, usage of modern western technical equipment, as well as tireless work of builders, COFCO Agri managed to construct the ultramodern complex for transshipment of agricultural products. As a result, construction of the terminal in Mykolaiv created 150 new working positions, he stressed.
During the terminal excursion, which took place after the official ribbon-cutting ceremony, guests of the event were able to observe the beauty and power of the new complex. The new terminal is equipped with two granaries, which consists of 16 silos with the general capacity of 120 thsd tonnes, and 4 silos with the capacity of more than 1.5 thsd tonnes. The complex has a station for unloading of vehicles (two conveyers) and rail transport (two conveyers for 8 rail cars), which allows accepting nearly 10 thsd tonnes of cargoes per day. Also, the terminal includes a grain dryer and grain purifier with the capacity of 50 tonnes/hour, ship unloading machine with the capacity of 1 thsd tonnes/day, and the loading rate at 20 thsd tonnes/day, as well as a laboratory for grain quality testing. The terminal has the required transport equipment, scales, samplers and express-laboratory. In addition, the complex has the required motor roads for timely work, and transport areas in the port.
The complex is constructed with usage of high-tech equipment, which eliminates any negative impact on the environment. The equipment of the following companies companies was used for construction of the terminal: Ag Growth International (AGI), Neuero, Intersystems, Stela Laxhuber Engineering GmbH & Co, as well as component parts of domestic production Elevatorpromservice, Grain Capital, etc.
Yu.Vaskov commented that realization of the project is quite important not only for the Mykolaiv port and the oblast, but also for the whole country. Firstly, it is the largest Chinese investment in the Ukrainian economy, which provides several hundred working places, port fees from more than 2 mln tonnes of cargoes shipment per year, and taxes to the local and state budgets. The terminal will support the export operations of the country, optimize the logistics, etc. It is a modern grain terminal, which completely conforms the export policy of Ukraine, he stressed.
In addition, construction of the terminals in the Mykolaiv port will contribute to further development of the river logistics, said Yu.Vaskov. He stressed that the company COFCO Agri actively involved in formation of the policy on development of inland waterways, and plans to develop the river infrastructure of Ukraine in the nearest future.
In turn, Ya.Krasnopolskiy noted that construction of the port terminals allows increasing the export potential of Ukraine. To date, the export potential of our country is growing. In 2015/16 MY, Ukraine will reach the record grain exports - nearly 38 mln tonnes. Therefore, the need for high-quality logistics infrastructure is increasing every year. In addition, such large-scale investment is a great example of faith in the future of Ukraine, and the fact that investors consider Ukraine as the important component of the global food security, said the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy.
According to Ya.Krasnopolskiy, construction of the port terminals will reduce the cost of shipment operations, which in terms of the highly competitive environment is quite significant advantage.
APK-Inform thanks COFCO Agri for invitation to the official opening of the grain terminal, and wishes to the company to successfully achieve all its goals in the future prosperity of the new terminal, to get only reliable and responsible partners!
Alina Styozhka, APK-Inform Agency
