World Grain - November 2013 - 10

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Brooklyn-Kyiv, Louis Dreyfus, Ukrainian
government building new grain terminal
ODESSA, UKRAINE - Louis Dreyfus
Commodities Suisse SA, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Louis Dreyfus Commodities,
and Brooklyn Kiev LLC have entered into
an agreement to establish a joint venture
for the development and management of a
multi-commodity terminal in the Port of
Odessa, Ukraine. An event celebrating the
completion of the first stage of a new grain
terminal was held on Oct. 22.
The grain storage capacity of the first
stage is 70,000 tonnes. The new terminal is
expected to start the first phase of its operation in 2013, with Louis Dreyfus planning
to transship its first grain cargo through the
terminal in the coming months.
The project is to be realized in three stages. When all stages of development are complete, about August 2014, the terminal will
consist of 33 containers with a grain storage
capacity of 241,000 tonnes. The length of
the berth is 254 meters and depth near the
berth wall is 13.5 meters. The terminal will
be able to accommodate the loading of Panamax class vessels with the carrying capacity
of 60,000 tonnes.
The designed capacity of the complex will
allow for the storage and handling of up to
4 million tonnes of grain a year. Total cost
of the project is $125 million, of which $95
million is investors' funds.
The building of the new grain terminal
is a joint public/private entity investment
project, with the Sea Port Administration of
Ukraine, the Odessa Sea Port, Louis-Dreyfus and a joint Ukrainian-British company,
Brooklyn-Kyiv, partnering.
"This is a key step in our investment strategy in the region and an excellent complement to our existing logistic assets," said
Jean-Marc Foucher, chief executive officer
of Louis Dreyfus Commodities for Europe
and the Black Sea. "The substantial growth
in Ukrainian grain production and exports,
which is expected to continue in the coming years, driven by higher yields, increasing
corn crops and more efficient farming operations, requires efficient export channels. The
Odessa terminal will be able to handle large
10

Brooklyn-Kyiv, Louis Dreyfus and the Ukrainian government recently celebrated the completion of the
first of three phases in developing this grain terminal in the Port of Odessa, Ukraine. Photo courtesy
of Louis Dreyfus. Photo by Valeriy Voronkov.
volumes of grain and oilseeds quickly and effectively. This will help us serve our global
clients more efficiently and will also benefit
the agricultural sector in Ukraine as a whole."
Yuryi Gubankov, managing director of
Brooklyn Kiev, said the agreement is "a
major step forward" in the development of
the terminal and establishes a solid link with
Louis Dreyfus Commodities, one of the largest grain exporters out of Ukraine.
"The project combines the expertise of
Brooklyn Kiev in stevedoring, freight forwarding and port operations with the experience of Louis Dreyfus Commodities in
grain origination, selection and exportation,"
Gubankov said. "It will strengthen the competitiveness of our terminal, which has all
the right pre-conditions, in terms of location
and technical features, to be a success."
During his speech celebrating the completion of the first stage of the grain terminal
project, Vice-Prime Minister Olexandr
Vilkul said, "In order to strengthen the positions of Ukraine as one of the largest grain
exporters in the world, the government draws
investments for building of new terminals in
ports. It creates new workplaces, improves

logistics and decreases losses of grain in the
process of handling. We are holding talks
concerning further drawing investments."
During his speech, Vilkul said that Ukraine
is one of the six countries that form the global
grain market. He noted that this year a record
harvest has been gathered - around 60 million tonnes. Vilkul further noted that Ukraine
is forecasting the growth of the gross yield
of grain to increase up to 80 million tonnes
over the next five years. That's why peculiar
attention is paid to increase of throughput of
Ukrainian ports, which handle over 90% of
bulk agricultural export.
Vilkul said that creating new logistic
chains will also facilitate the development of
export potential of participants in the grain
pool between Ukraine, the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan.
"Ukraine's ports have huge investment
attractiveness. Before construction works,
there was held a huge preparation activity
in studying world experience and analogous
terminals on the Black Sea. And, we have received a serious support of the government,"
Director General of Brooklyn-Kyiv Yuriy
Gubankov said.

November 2013 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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