Plans are in place to amend the terms of the concession for the «Olvia» port in Mykolaiv due to the war

NikVestiThe Port of Olvia in Mykolaiv, archive photo NikVesti

In Mykolaiv, there are plans to review the agreement with the Qatari company that was granted management of the Port of Olvia. As the port is not operating due to the war, the aim is to continue the partnership under new terms.

This was announced on Facebook by Anatolii Timenko, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Community and Territorial Development, following a meeting with Ruslan Oleinik, director of QTerminals Olvia.

According to him, the full-scale war has significantly affected port operations and investors’ ability to fulfil their obligations. The parties are therefore now seeking solutions that will allow them to maintain their cooperation.

«The war has significantly affected port operations and investors’ ability to fulfil their obligations. Our task now, therefore, is to find solutions that take these circumstances into account and enable us to maintain the partnership,» said Anatolii Timenko.

Amendments to the concession agreement are currently being prepared, and work is underway on the financial and legal issues that need to be resolved for the project to proceed. In addition, the parties are drafting a supplementary agreement to the contract and a corresponding resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

A working group meeting is planned for early November, at which further steps are to be agreed.

Separately, they will consider the possibility of extending the suspension of the concession period beyond 24 February 2027. In doing so, they will take into account the duration of martial law and the time required to resume the port’s operations.

«It is important for us to maintain cooperation with investors even under difficult conditions. Infrastructure projects of this scale require clear rules and decisions that take into account the realities of the war,» emphasised the Deputy Minister.

It should be recalled that the Mykolaiv port «Olvia» was granted a 35-year concession to the Qatari company QTerminals on 20 August 2020. The investor was to invest 3.4 billion гривень in the port’s development and at least 80 million гривень in Mykolaiv’s infrastructure. It was also required to build an underground tunnel in the Korabelnyi district — beneath the railway tracks — to allow lorries to enter the territory of the «Olvia» specialised seaport. However, operations at the port were suspended due to the full-scale war.

In 2025, the Qatari company and the Ministry of Development signed a memorandum on the resumption of the concession for the «Olvia» port. At the time, Ruslan Oleinik, director of QTerminals Olvia, explained to NikVesti that these were merely legal agreements, as the shipping channel remains closed and the water area has not been cleared of mines.