The State Agency of Fisheries of Ukraine plans to put up for sale four vessels of Ukraine`s oceanic fleet in 2017, the agency`s press service reported citing the agency`s chief Yarema Kovaliv.
”In 2017, vessels may be included in the privatization list; currently, we are discussing the relevance [of the move] with industry experts,” a statement reads.
The press service also noted that the operational lifetime of the vessels will expire in 2025.
According to the agency`s preliminary estimates, Ukraine may raise $16 million in revenue from the sale of the vessels. At this, an expert at Atlantic Shipping, the Danish company of international shipbrokers, estimates the cost of one such Ukrainian vessel at about $1.5 million ($6 million in total for four vessels).
The head of the Fisheries Agency stated that the funds raised from privatization would be spent on modernization of the internal fleet.
”Given exhausting technical resources, the privatization issue is relevant. It should be as transparent as possible, to avoid any possible ambiguity. We believe that spending the funds raised on the upgrade of the country`s fleet will become a powerful impetus for the Ukrainian fishing industry, and ship builders,” Kovaliv said.
As UaPosition reported earlier, last year, Ukraine`s oceanic fishing fleet posted a profit of UAH 19 million (over $700,000), for the first time since 1997, of which UAH 9.5 million in dividend payments to the state budget. The Fisheries Agency intends to boost profit of the oceanic fishing fleet next year by 58% to UAH 30 million.
Over the period of its independence, Ukraine has lost more than 220 large vessels, which made up 95% of its oceanic fleet. Most vessels were sold in illegal schemes. In 1991, Ukraine owned more than 230 ocean-going vessels. In 2015 their number decreased to 11, of which only 4 were state-owned.
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