Noise around Odessa port: Kolomoisky needs the plant to blackmail Russia
The decision to create the Odessa port plant (around which the city of Yuzhny arose) was made in 1975. Now it is one of the largest chemical enterprises in Ukraine. The plant specializes in the production of ammonia and urea.
The main advantages of the enterprise are infrastructure. It is the end point of the Togliatti-Gorlovka-Odessa ammonia pipeline (through which Togliattiazot sends its products for export), has the largest ammonia storage facility in Europe and the only terminal in Ukraine for its transshipment.
Actually, it is precisely this circumstance that makes the plant so attractive. From a production point of view, the economic efficiency of the OPP is directly related to the price of gas, and in January 2009 the plant even stopped due to a lack of gas. Since then, the plant has been operating at a loss (the exception was 2011). Therefore, the issue of its privatization in the interests of an investor who is able to provide gas supplies at an affordable price is relevant.
In 2009, they tried to sell the plant. Yulia Tymoshenko staged the sale as a show, but as a result, the plant went to the Privat group, which did not suit her. The results of the competition were canceled according to the official version of the “agreement” between the participants.
In 2013, the sale of the HMO was announced again in 2014, in July of this year it was included in the list of privatized objects, and in November a decision was made to hold a competition (note that the change of government did not affect the privatization intentions of the authorities).
The current state of the enterprise is frankly not the best. The plant is unprofitable; after the shutdown of Gorlovka’s Stirol in May and Geletey’s statements about the mining of the ammonia pipeline, the plant is operating at 30% capacity. In October, it was even announced that the plant might shut down due to a lack of gas, but for now, however, the plant is benefiting from a contract with the German gas concern E.ON. Reports of privatization cause natural concerns among the workforce - after all, the OPP is a city-forming enterprise, and the entire social infrastructure of the South is connected with it.
The prospects for the sale of the company look dim. Russian buyers will most likely not be allowed to participate in the competition. In 2013, it was expected that the enterprise would go to Firtash’s group, but now his chances of participating in the process are low - he would have to preserve existing assets.
So it seems more likely that Privat will receive the OPP, which has sufficient gas resources from its own production and the desire to create a chemical concern as part of Dneproazot and the OPP. In addition, according to an expert at the Institute for Energy Research, Yuriy Korolchuk, the political factor plays a big role for Kolomoisky - he “will be able to put pressure on Russia, because the ammonia pipeline is a resource for blackmail.”
Experts doubt the possibility of selling the OPP for an acceptable price (at least $600 million; in 2009 it was sold for $625 million with an estimated value of approximately $1 billion). Taking into account the crisis state of the economy, the unprofitability of the plant and the armed conflict in the country, the director of energy programs at the Center for World Economy and International Relations, Valentin Zemlyansky, estimates a discount of up to 70% of the real value of the asset in quiet times (i.e., half the planned minimum).
But everything could be even simpler. Prime Minister Yatsenyuk proposed to start by selling 5% of the company's shares on the stock exchange in order to assess demand. Experts, however, suggest that such a small package simply will not arouse interest among potential buyers. But Privat will be able to buy it and gain control over the enterprise without formalizing the purchase at all - just as it captured Ukrtatneft along with the Kremenchug Oil Refinery, buying only 1% of the shares.
What is happening around the refinery can have two explanations. Or are we talking about demonstrating the fantastic competence and efficiency of the Yatsenyuk government, which has already driven the country into a deep crisis and is trying to get out of it by selling off the remaining state-owned assets for next to nothing. Or we are talking about a modest “gift” to a famous patriot and supporter of the “united country” (tm). Or one of two things.
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