Having successfully forayed into Turkey and Ukraine, QTerminals is now eyeing acquisition of port assets in Europe as part of its strategic geographical expansion.
Moreover, the terminal operating company, which will officially rebrand the newly acquired port asset as QTerminals Olvia on December 7, plans to turn the Ukrainian port into a major grain hub through which Doha’s food security can also be addressed as food processing plants are being planned in Qatar’s free zones, QTerminals Chief Executive Neville Bissett said in a meeting with Gulf Times Editor-in-Chief Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka.
QTerminals – whose core values are safety, customer service and community – is also addressing the challenges to the infrastructure of Mykolaiv, the city where the Olvia port is located, by investing either in tunnel or a bridge to connect the east side with the west side of the city, which will have “immediate and specific” impact on the local community.
“The opportunities should fit with QTerminals. We are looking at opportunities in Europe,” Bissett said.
QTerminals, which is a 51:49 joint venture between Mwani Qatar and Milaha, last year secured Olvia port (Ukraine), which has a capacity of about 3mn tonnes of cargo annually, through a 35-year concession, as part of its European plans.
“In this industry, the acquisition of ports either by concession or outright purchase is massively competitive,” Bissett said, without divulging further details about its European plans.
