ODESA, JULY, 22nd, 2009, CONTEXT-PRICHERNOMORIE – General Manager TIS Alexey Stavnitser stated instead of the reply saying berths No 21 and 22 equipped by the company had been included into the port’s structure Transinvestservice LTD received from the port of Yuzhny an offer very much resembling blackmailing, Context-Prichernomorie correspondent reports.

The agency was informed about it today, 22 July at the TIS press-service.

According to the press-service, for over a week a Spanish vessel Scan Oceanic has been in the roads, it will ship the portal crane meant for a new coal terminal. As TIS Chief Engineer stated, Vitaly Kovtitsky, the main reason for the ship’s detention (demurrage costing 30 thousand EUR daily) was “was a strange unwillingness of the port’s management”, Yuriy Kruk in particular to add berths No 21 and 22 to the Code of Obligatory Decrees.

“The situation is no-win: there is a berth, all the documents are ready, but there is no license. Consequently mooring any ship to these berths hangs up in the air”, Mr. Kovtitsky stated.

General Manager TIS Alexey Stavnitser in his turn stated, he evaluated such actions on behalf of Yuzhny Port as “piracy”.

“We haven’t received any answer from the port so far, for that simple reason that there was no even formal possibility for a refusal, Mr. Kruk does not want to confess the availability of these two berths”, — Mr. Satvnitser stated, adding just a few days before instead of the reply the port’s management had “made an offer very much resembling blackmailing.”

In particular, as he states, the port’s representatives suggest adding the berths to the Code, only if TIS refutes any financial claims towards the port. At the moment these claims count to approximately 52 million UAH – this is partial compensation for dredging made by TIS in the Port’s water area. TIS’s investment in Berth No 21 that cannot operate owing to there is no formal coordination with the port, made 30 million EUR.

At that the terminal had been included into the Port’s Development Plan.

According to Director of the TIS terminal, Andrey Kuzmenko, “as of today this is the longest berth-line in Ukraine. There is no such a line either in Odesa or Illichivsk. It will let us operate the largest container ships capable of entering the Black Sea and passing through Bosporus. At presnt the limit is 310 metres. The Port of Odesa was built 200 years ago, the Port of Illichivsk – 60 years ago. Naturally, the ship sizes are quite different today. A modern ship needs over 450 metres of U-turn circle. There is no such a possibility either in Odesa or Illichivsk.”

Mr. Kuzmenko also said only over the first year of the terminal’s operation, 200 thousand TEU will be attracted in the port only in the turnover with Poland, which will increase total cargo flow through Ukraine more than 30 percent. The investors intend to equip this terminal with cranes having 55 metres outreach to be able to discharge container ships having up to 20 rows of containers breadthways that today even excels the capacity of the main rival – Port of Constanţa.

“A similar crane is onboard the vessel Scan Oceanic detained on the roads. 3 mooring cranes and 10 rare cranes for the container terminal yesterday entered the Cape of Good Hope and are now proceeding to TIS’s berths. The company’s management does not rule out the equipment may stick on the roads for the reason of unwillingness of the port’s authorities”, — they informed in the press-service.

INFORMATION: Transivestservice (TIS) is Ukraine’s largest terminal for bulk cargoes and is a transit gate to a greater part of south-east Russia and neighbour countries. It has a strategic location in relation to the Ukrainian hinterland. It is situated at the Adzhalik bay- 40 km south from the City of Odesa. The terminal is the gateway to the World market of 450 million consumers of grains, fertilizers, coals, ores, etc. More than 50 scheduled services link TIS with over 1000 ports worldwide. The company’s throughput in 2005 amounted to 5,3 million tones.

TIS is situated directly on the Black Sea. It is the deepest terminal of Ukraine, so the largest ocean-going vessels have unrestricted access around the clock, seven days a week. The port has a depth of 14 metres (47 feet) and never freezes. The terminal is most famous for rapid turnaround times. A lot of auxiliary services are provided too Due to the size of the operations, the terminal offers significant advantages of scale. TIS is investing all the time to attract new cargoes, expand and improve its service.