World’s largest shipping firm invests in Ukrainian port near Odesa despite war risks
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The world's largest container shipping company has taken a majority stake in a Ukrainian port near Odesa, marking a rare high-profile foreign investment into the country as Russia's full-scale invasion drags into its fifth year.
The Swiss-headquartered Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) acquired a stake in the TIS container terminal in Ukraine's Pivdennyi (Southern) Port, one person with close knowledge of the deal confirmed to the Kyiv Independent, who was granted anonymity to discuss closed talks.
Commanding roughly a fifth of the world's global container traffic, MSC's expansion into Ukraine comes even as Russia ramps up missile and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure across the country, as Moscow stalls on the battlefield.
Ukraine's Black Sea ports are frequent targets — and the Pivdenny Port is fewer than 50 kilometers away from the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
"The deal is a good sign, demonstrating interest in the Ukrainian market, which is one of the most promising in the Black Sea region," Serhiy Vovk, director of the Center for Transportation Strategies, told the Kyiv Independent.
The terminal can handle coal, containers, ore, grain, and fertilizers, according to TIS, and is Ukraine's busiest port in terms of cargo transhipment.
It's not the first time MSC has invested in Ukraine. In May last year, MSC reportedly bought shares in Ukrainian logistics company N'UNIT and a dry port in the city of Mostyka in western Ukraine.
According to YouControl, a website that tracks company ownership in Ukraine, Diego Aponte and Alexa Aponte took 25.5% of the container terminal each, to own a combined 51%. The Aponte family owns the Swiss MSC group.
Ownership was transferred to the Apontes in May, finalizing the deal, the person said.
The deal was not publicly announced, and the size of the deal is not public. Neither MSC nor TIS replied to a request for comment from the Kyiv Independent by the time of publication.
The 51% stake was previously owned by Dubai-based logistics company DP World, which reportedly sold its stake back to TIS in March. DP World drew condemnation in Ukraine for continuing to collaborate with Russian companies — including Rosatom, the country's state-nuclear company.
The Apontes will join Andriy Stavnitser as co-owner of TIS, who is also CEO of the company. Stavnitser is well known in Ukraine for his philanthropic and business ventures.
Stavnitser previously closed large deals with American food agricultural giant Cargill.
He is also the founder of Superhumans, a charity that offers prosthetics, surgery, and psychological support to soldiers and civilians injured in the war.
Stavnitser's stake is 9.72%, according to YouControl.
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