CARGO TURNOVER OF HHLA CTO SEES MORE THAN A 20% INCREASE IN 9 MONTHS

On 15th October, a subsidiary company of the German group HHLA SC “Container Terminal Odessa” (CTO) was visited by a delegation from Germany led by Professor Dr. Chairman of the “German-Ukrainian Forum” Rainer Lindner. The purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with the potential of Odessa region for the opportunities of investing in the logistics field. The guests visited the container terminal, including the new berths and storage areas of the Quarantine Mole project, implemented jointly by SC “CTO” and ASPU represented by the Odessa port administration.

The Quarantine Mole project (a berth line of 650 meters and 19 hectares of reclaimed rear areas), which has been under construction for several years, aims to achieve a terminal throughput capacity of 1.2 million TEU per year.

After reviewing the new terminal and the rear areas under construction, Professor Dr. Rainer Lindner said:
- Our delegation includes representatives of logistics companies and entrepreneurs. We support the new government’s anti-corruption laws that protect investments. It was very important to come here in order to see firsthand what the opportunities for German investments are

According to one of the trip organizers, managing director of the German Eastern Business Association (OAOEV), Ute Kochlowski-Kadjaia, the delegation includes not only business representatives already working in Ukraine, but also potential investors.
- For those who do not work in Ukraine, Odessa region is very interesting because it has a very high diversification. From the point of view of the geopolitical situation, Odessa region is of great importance in the cargo logistics. German investors involved in telecommunications, agriculture and transport have seen a wide field for activity here,- said Ute Kochlowski-Kadjaia.

Anastas Kokkin, general director of SC “CTO”, in the course of acquaintance with the operation of the container terminal, emphasized:
- Constant increase of the service level for international container lines and forwarders, strengthening the terminal's leading position in the container market of Ukraine is very important for us. We are ramping up the volume of container handling with every year. Thus, for 9 months of the current year, our team handled 286 thousand TEU, which is far than 20% more comparing to the same period in 2018. In August, the company achieved a record for the last 10 years of container handling - 36.8 thousand TEU were handled. The growth of container handling is facilitated by two main factors: investment in infrastructure development and a high level of service. Over the years of cooperation with Odessa port, the German side has invested more than 150 million EUR. The company continues investing. At this stage about 20 million EUR are being invested in the arrangement of rear areas (with a total area of about 6 hectares), the acquisition of 4 rear container RTG cranes for the new sites on the Quarantine Mole, as well as creating a new high-tech web portal for a phased transition to electronic document management.

According to the company’s president Philip Sweens, being a subsidiary of the world famous German group HHLA, SC “CTO” strictly adheres to high European standards.
- First of all, these are high environmental and social standards. The handling equipment that we use in our work is modern and non-polluting the environment. The company cares about its employees: it provides a decent social package. In addition, one more important aspect. Developing the infrastructure of Odessa port, we are creating new prestigious working places for Ukrainians. I believe, our investments in port infrastructure, contributing to the development of foreign trade operations in Ukraine, stabilizing the country's economy, is one of the main arguments for supporting foreign investors, including the German investor HHLA AG and its subsidiary “CTO”. The real show of such support should be the solution to the problem of completing the protective breakwater construction,- commented Philip Sweens

REFERENCE. “Container Terminal Odessa”, a subsidiary company of the German group HHLA, has operated the container terminal in Odessa port and has been investing in its development since 2001. The Quarantine Mole project has been implemented jointly with ASPU represented by Odessa port since 2010. New capacities and berths 1- k, 2-k are in operation since October 2014.
The terminal is the leader of the Ukrainian container market and the largest taxpayer of Odessa port: in 2018 390 million UAH were transferred to budgets of all levels. At the end of 2018, “Container Terminal Odessa” entered the top three leaders in the international rating of the Black Sea container terminals.