On February 3, Ukrainian Seaport Authority (USPA) presented the prospective projects scheduled for current year to the key dredging companies as well as the basic principles for tender procurements during Ukrainian Dredging Day. USPA says the meeting was held jointly with the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine under support of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
During the opening speech, the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Volodymyr Omelyan drew attention on the major tasks before the head of USPA Raivis Veckagans to reform the seaports. “USPA should be open and transparent enterprise. The point of today's meeting is to address the world our openness: come to Ukraine, invest in Ukrainian ports and we will provide the highest availability and clarity for any kind of international business",— the Minister said.
«The American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, as the voice of business, express expectations for a clear and transparent tender procedures and following proper implementation of technical tasks, which are specified in tender documentation and we appreciate the readiness of USPA management to organize public discussions with business community»,— Andrey Gunder, the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine informed.
During the meeting, Raivis Veckagans noted USPA intention to facilitate the world's leading dredging companies to enter Ukrainian dredging market. “The point of the meeting is to involve new players to participate in tender for dredging works. For this purpose we clarify the legislation aspects, translate the tender documents in English, and hold direct meetings with foreign partners."
Presenting the program of capital dredging in the largest Ukrainian port «Yuzhny» USPA focused on two key projects in the Black Sea basin. Thus, USPA announced in Prozorro public procurement system two projects for reconstruction of water approaches, maneuvering areas and operational aquatic areas near quays and the project for reconstruction of sea approaches to deep-water quays of the port. The first project (https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2016-11-18-000184-a/) foresees soil removal in the amount of 4.4 million cubic meters till March 2018. The second one https://prozorro.gov.ua/tender/UA-2016-11-21-000531-a/ involves dredging works in the amount of 3.4 mio cubic meters until the end of 2019.
Dredging works will be carried out in the framework of the project for the construction of the berth № 25 in “Yuzhny” seaport and «MV Cargo» grain handling complex. The terminal will have a capacity of 5 million tons per year with the opportunity of further increase. The joint project with Cargill is a priority one for USPA, which demonstrates the readiness of Ukrainian port facilities to cooperate with investors in various projects.
«This is a flagship projects for the port and Ukraine as a whole. This shows the entire expert community how efficiently an international procurements, attraction the world's leading companies and implementation of complex infrastructure projects can be realized for the benefit of the port, the state and business»,— Mr. Veckagans stressed.
It is expected that the winner of the tender to carry out dredging “Yuzhny” seaport will be determined till 1 June 2017.
In summary, the head of USPA noticed the key project principles. Among them are the benefit for the state, zero corruption tolerance, expansion of competition, openness and transparency at all the procurement stages and securing the interests of investor. USPA assured of the deadlines specified in the agreements. At the same time, all the mandatory contributions to the budget will not affect the progress of the project and all the barriers in the interaction between USPA and the business will be eliminated.
The event attended both the Ukrainian companies and representatives of world industry leaders: Royal Boskalis Westminster (the Netherlands), Deme (Belgium), Rohde Nielsen A/S (Denmark), Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors Company (the Netherlands), Tianjin Dredging Co, Ltd. (China), Jan De Nul NV (Luxembourg).