The Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant (OPP), the country`s major chemical producer, has resumed operation following the resumption of natural gas supplies by state-owned energy holding Naftogaz of Ukraine, according to the press service of the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU).
The SPFU is currently preparing a 99.6% state stake in the OPP for sale, which is scheduled for November this year.
Earlier, the Ukrainian government instructed Naftogaz to ensure uninterrupted supplies of up to 300 million cubic meters of gas to the OPP until the end of the year.
On October 3, 2016, Naftogaz`s supervisory board endorsed a contract on gas supplies to the OPP, the SPFU`s press service said, referring to the plant`s representatives. The supervisory board decided to resume the gas supplies from October 4, it said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, previously SPFU Head Ihor Bilous stated that while idle, the OPP was incurring about UAH 7-9 million in loss per month. The chemical producer owes $193 million to Dmytro Firtash`s Ostchem company with penalties under the debt amounting to $58 million, according to the Stockholm arbitration. Other debts within the country amount to UAH 840 million, which is around $32 million at the current forex rate.
In early August, the OPP halted its operations after Ukrtransgaz said it had not received any confirmation from the supplying company regarding gas deliveries to the OPP to meet its needs for the previous month.
Bilous estimates that the plant needs up to $100 million in working capital to ensure its proper operation.
In his words, the starting price of the OPP, to be put up for sale at a repeat auction in November, should be reduced to $150 million, taking into account the company`s large debt.
The July 18 auction for the sale of the state-owned stake in the OPP, with a starting price of UAH 13.175 billion (some $520 million), was put on hold due to the lack of interest, as the price of the asset was believed to be overstated.
UNIAN memo. The OPP, which is located in the town of Yuzhny in Odesa, is Ukraine`s second-largest ammonia and carbamide producer and the third-largest manufacturer of nitrogen fertilizers.
The company also handles shipments of chemical products arriving from CIS countries and exports. The company holds a monopoly in the national market of specialized services for the acceptance, cooling and transshipment of ammonia.
