February 2020 – Kinstellar’s Kyiv office, in coordination with Clyde & Co, has successfully represented Qatari port operator QTerminals in the largest port concession tender in Ukraine to date. Kinstellar handled all Ukrainian law aspects of the project, while Clyde & Co's Middle East offices acted as overall deal counsel.

The pilot port operating concession was prepared by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine with the assistance of the EBRD and the IFC and was held under the best international practices, and a transparent and competitive tender process. On 24 January 2020, QTerminals, the major Qatari port operator, was selected as the winner of the tender for the concession of the Black Sea Port of Olvia.

Kinstellar's team represented QTerminals at all stages of the tender, including assistance on the prequalification stage, preparation and filing of the bid, legal due diligence for the project, establishment of a project company in Ukraine, preparation and filing of an application with the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, as well as advising on various corporate law matters.

The closing of the deal remains subject to the approval of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine as well as execution of the concession agreement, which will be negotiated between the parties within the next three months.

Kinstellar counsel Oleg Matiusha, who led the firm’s projects team, comments: “We are delighted to see QTerminals selected as the winner in such a benchmark project and are happy to have contributed to, and to be a part of, this success. We will work alongside Clyde & Co and use the wealth of experience of Kinstellar’s team in the infrastructure, real estate, corporate, regulatory and financial sectors to ensure the successful implementation of the project to the mutual benefit of the investor and the state”.

According to the financial bid, in addition to regular concession payments, QTerminals anticipates that it will invest up to US$120 million in the modernisation and development of the Port of Olvia. QTerminals will also contribute US$3.4 million to the development of the local infrastructure of the surrounding area. This makes the project the largest concession ever implemented in Ukraine.

Neville Bissett, QTerminals’ CEO, comments: “We are excited to deliver a long-term investment into the Port of Olvia – the object of particular importance to QTerminals and a starting point for our expansion into Ukraine. We are highly committed to modernising and developing the Port at the highest degree of efficiency and safety. The tender itself proved to be a transparent procedure that met the highest global standards. We are grateful to our legal advisors Clyde & Co and Kinstellar for their excellent service, and their quality, practical advice and guidance resulting in this success”.

Kinstellar’s team advising on the transaction was led by Oleg Matiusha (Counsel, Head of Real Estate, Construction and Infrastructure in Kyiv) and included Mykyta Nota (Counsel, Head of Competition in Kyiv), Oleh Andreikiv (Senior Associate, Corporate, Tax), Danylo Volkovetskyi (Senior Associate, General Commercial, Corporate), Viktoriia Dobrynska (Senior Associate, Corporate), Daryna Ushchapivska (Associate, Competition), Julia Palaida (Associate, Regulatory, Environmental Compliance), Yulia Eismont (Associate, IP), Oleksandr Plachynta (Junior Associate, Dispute Resolution), Valeriia Lepska (Junior Associate, Competition).

For more information please contact Oleg Matiusha, Counsel at oleg.matiusha@kinstellar.com

Kinstellar is Emerging Europe and Central Asia's leading independent law firm. Our highly skilled lawyers handle the most important and complex transactions for clients in diverse industries and sectors across Emerging Europe and Central Asia.

Kinstellar was formed in November 2008 from the Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest and Prague offices of Linklaters and has expanded with new offices in Kyiv, Belgrade, Istanbul, Almaty, Sofia, Tashkent and Nur-Sultan. Kinstellar's experience speaks for itself: major corporations, financial institutions, governments and the most respected international law firms trust us because we deliver.