The State Property Fund Plans to Appoint Former Prosecutor Shabunyaev as Acting Director of Odesa Portside Plant

The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) has revealed its intention to appoint Kostiantyn Shabunyaev as the acting chairman of the board of the Odesa Portside Plant (OPZ). Shabunyaev, who previously held the position of director of personnel and social issues at OPZ, is set to take over the role during an extraordinary shareholders' meeting scheduled to take place remotely from April 24 to May 5, 2023.

Shabunyaev has been a board member since December 2022 and has a background in the Kherson regional prosecutor's office, where he worked from 2015. According to the SPFU, this new appointment could take effect from May 19, 2023. The decision also includes the termination of the powers of Yuriy Koval'sky, who has served as the acting chairman of the board since May 2022, and the cancellation of his contract, which was originally set to last until August 2024.

Kostiantyn Shabunyaev possesses significant legal expertise, having graduated from the Interregional Academy of Management in 2001 with a qualification as a lawyer. He furthered his education at the National Academy of Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, where he obtained a master's degree in law in 2010. Throughout his career, he has held various positions within the Kherson regional prosecutor's office, including deputy prosecutor of the region, head of a department, and prosecutor of a department.

Yuriy Koval'sky, who is slated for dismissal, worked as an advisor to the chairman of the board of the State Agrarian Fund before his appointment as director of OPZ. He has also held the position of deputy chairman of the board of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (DPSKU) and has experience in the banking sector, including roles at Ukreximbank and the International Mortgage Bank.

According to data from the YouControl resource, OPZ's financial performance for 2025 has been disappointing, with the company's revenue decreasing by 2.7 times to 328.7 million UAH, while its net loss shrank by 2.3 times to 807.4 million UAH. These figures indicate serious financial difficulties faced by the enterprise.

In November of the previous year, the State Property Fund attempted to privatize OPZ, in which it holds 99.5667% of the shares, with a starting price set at 4 billion 488.5 million UAH. However, despite efforts, no bids were received, raising doubts about the prospects for the plant's privatization.

Darija Marchak, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture of Ukraine, stated in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine that OPZ remains a key object of large-scale privatization in 2026. She noted that after the unsuccessful auction last year, it is necessary to more carefully define the terms of sale, including the possibility of lowering the starting price to attract potential buyers.

Marchak also emphasized that OPZ is a complex asset due to its debts, including old debts confirmed by the Stockholm Arbitration against Group DF. "Clearly, we need to globally rethink how we approach the sale of this asset," she remarked.

She added that despite all the challenges, there are plans to put OPZ up for sale this year in hopes of finding buyers. In an interview with NV Business in August 2025, OPZ director Koval'sky reported that the plant's management had attempted to restart one of the two ammonia units, but this effort was unsuccessful. Following this, OPZ was redirected to grain transshipment, which became the sole source of income for the enterprise.

However, at the end of June 2025, due to a Russian airstrike, the plant's warehouses sustained significant damage, halting transshipment operations. Koval'sky noted that for safety reasons, OPZ does not plan to resume production in the near future but is maintaining production lines in full technical readiness for possible restoration of operations. He estimated the cost of restarting the plant at approximately 30 million cubic meters of gas.