Sayenko Kharenko has acted as legal counsel to the winners of both pilot tenders for the concession of Ukraine's Kherson and Olvia seaports.
The concession projects provide for the operation and maintenance of functioning seaport infrastructure for periods of 30 and 35 years respectively.
The concession tenders, which were announced in September 2019 with support from the EBRD and the IFC, were designed as a multi-stage process that included pre-qualification shortlisting and a full invitation to tender. Sayenko Kharenko represented the interests of Risoil Kherson LLC and Risoil Olvia LLC from the outset.
On January 20, 2020, Sayenko Kharenko’s client was declared the winner of the Kherson seaport concession tender as his bid provided for the best financial conditions. After the successful passing of the pre-qualification stage, that client made a strategic decision not to proceed with filing a financial bid for the Olvia seaport.
According to its investment commitments outlined in the financial bid, Risoil Kherson LLC will invest almost UAH 300 million in the development of the seaport and local infrastructure. The bid envisaged a high variable concession payment rate of 7% and a fixed concession payment amounting to UAH 12 million. In addition, Risoil Kherson LLC will invest over UAH 18 million into local infrastructure.
According to Sayenko Kharenko, the firm "provided full legal support for the project, including advising on bid strategy, assisting with setting up and structuring a special purpose vehicle, as well as collecting the relevant documents and submitting a tender bid, conducting legal due diligence and preparing an application to the Anti-Monopoly Committee of Ukraine." The firm is now advising Risoil Kherson "on negotiating the concession agreement and submission of application for approval from the AMCU." The closing of the transaction is subject to the approval of the AMCU, as well as the execution of the concession agreement, which will be negotiated between the parties within the next three months.
Sayenko Kharenko’s team working on the project was coordinated by Counsel Volodymyr Yaremko with support of Associate Vladlena Lavrushyna, who also managed the tender representation of Risoil Kherson LLC and Risoil Olvia LLC during the concession tender. Associates Timur Enkhbaiar, Ilhar Hakhramanov, Mykola Lykhoglyad, and Sviatoslav Kozak provided support from the corporate and real estate law perspectives, under the supervision of Counsel Dmytro Korbut.
Sayenko Kharenko Senior Associate Julia Kuyda and Associate Anastasia Bodnar are managing the process of applying to the AMCU for approval of the tender, working under the supervision of Partner Maksym Nazarenko.
