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2006 October 13 05:49
Mobi Dick distrusts Rosstroi
Mobi Dick LLC is not going to sign additional agreement proposed by Saint Petersburg MPMC (Municipal Property Management Committee), which is to regulate the status of the plot of land meant for construction of the third phase of a ferry-transshipment complex (FTC) in Kronshtadt (Saint Petersburg port). According to the reporter of PortNews IAA, this information was provided yesterday at the press conference by Kimmo Nordstrom, Chairman of Mobi Dick’s Borad of Directors. The agreement on lease of the plot of land received by the company under investment conditions for construction of the third phase of FTC expires on October 31, 2006. In order to extend the agreement, Saint Petersburg MPMC has proposed to sign a document, under which the site is to be transferred to Rosstroi (Russian Federal Agency for Construction, Housing Maintenance and Utilities) for two years (till April 2009) needed for finalization of a navigation pass С – 1 at the dam.
Mobi Dick thinks, that guarantees, provided by municipal administration and by Valentina Matvienko, Saint Petersburg Governor, are not sufficient for Mobi Dick to be sure in renewal of the lease agreement after С-1 is finalized. Mobi Dick’s management has proposed MPMC a number of its variants to solve the conflict, among which is the extension of the lease agreement with the site transfer to Rosstroi under sub-lease conditions in the name of Mobi Dick. According to Kimmo Nordstrom, MPMC’s decision depends on Rosstroi. The only respond we get from MPMC is that Rosstroi does not agree with such a way, Kimmo Nordstrom told to reporters.
According to him, Rosstroi puts pressure upon Saint Petersburg Administration in order to prevent extension of the agreement for lease of land plot meant for the terminal’s third phase. He also informed that agreement for lease of sites meant for the 9th and 10th phases of the project implying transshipment of Nissan’s cargo, was not signed either, since representatives of MPMC asked the company to solve the third phase issue first. The agreement was ready but oral restrictions were added to it: if you wand land for the 9th and 10th phases, you should first sign additional agreement relating to the third phase, Kimmo Nordstrom told.
The head of Mobi Dick says, he is going to assert its right for the above site in a court case unless his proposal is not taken and MPMC does not extend the agreement.
All these make us think that investment climate of Saint Petersburg has dramatically changed, Kimmo Nordstromom added.
Mobi Dick LLC is a Russian part of Multi-Link Terminals Limited (MLT was incorporated for development and construction of container terminals in the ports of Saint Petersburg, Helsinki, Kotka). Kronshtadt container terminal managed by Mobi Dick company was put into operation in 2002. Container transshipment amounted in 2005 to 117 thou TEU, in 2006 it is planned to handle 150 thou TEU.
Total investments into the terminal amounted to 50 million euro. According to estimations, total volume of investments is to reach 100 million euro by the end of 2008.