Due to the high price of natural gas, a decision was made on the temporary suspension of operations of the plant`s capacities and facilities until repayment of existing debt.
Ukraine`s major chemical company Odesa Portside Chemical Plant” (OPP) has announced it is halting operations due to high gas prices and its debt to Naftogaz of Ukraine in the amount of UAH 1.5 billion, according to the company website.
”Due to the high price of natural gas supplied by Naftogaz of Ukraine, which does not correspond with the prices of the plant`s products on the world market… it was decided on a temporary suspension of capacities and facilities until repayment of the existing debt,” reads the statement.
The OPP noted that in coordination with the State Property Fund of Ukraine, the plant is looking for companies interested in renting it for a long period.
As UNIAN reported earlier, this year, the State Property Fund made two attempts to sell the OPP but both attempts failed.
In this regard, its further operations are threatened to be halted as the company has a nearly $251 million debt to Ostchem owned by a Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash and more than a UAH 500 million debt to Naftogaz of Ukraine, while the contract for gas supplies to the OPP expires December 31.
Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolev predicted that the debt before the holding would grow to UAH 1.5 billion by year-end. At the same time, he sees no economic justification to transfer the management of OPP to Naftogaz before the mechanism of debt repayment is developed.
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 receipt, cooling and transshipment of ammonia.
