KIEV, UKRAINE — Cargill and MV Cargo announced on Feb. 24 they have formalized plans to construct a grain terminal in Yuzhni, Ukraine by signing a share purchase agreement enabling the construction of the facility by MV Cargo to go ahead. The investment is worth around $100 million.

The agreement marks a significant milestone in the project and follows the memorandum of cooperation Cargill and MV Cargo entered into with Ukraine’s Sea Ports Authority (USPA) on Aug. 13, 2015, whereby the port authority agreed to dredge the water area adjacent to the future grain terminal down to 16 meters, Cargill said. This will enable the new terminal to handle large vessels with a deadweight of up to 100,000 tonnes that the new facility will attract to the port.

“We are delighted to finally be signing this agreement today, as we have been working toward this moment with our partners MV Cargo and with the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority for quite some time,” said Andreas Rickmers, head of Cargill’s grains and oilseeds business in Europe. “Through this investment Ukraine’s port infrastructure will be expanded and will provide greater efficiencies to connect Ukraine’s surplus agricultural crops with the parts of the world demanding more food. This new port will benefit Ukrainian farmers, the overall economy and global food security. It will add to our footprint of port facilities in the Black Sea region and confirms our intention to keep investing in Ukraine’s agricultural sector.”

"This project is of key importance for Ukraine to sustain its leading position among grain exporting countries, as this deep-water state-of-the-art terminal will allow us to process vessels of high tonnage, delivering Ukrainian grain to markets all over the world,” said Andrey Stavnitser on behalf of MV Cargo. “We expect the project to generate over UAH 300 million in tax payments annually and to create employment for around 350 people."

Construction of the terminal will begin on Feb. 27 and is expected to be completed by the spring of 2018.