PJSC Odesa Port-side Chemical Plant was halted on August 11, according to first deputy chairman of the plant Mykola Schurikov, who is under house arrest. .

"We can only state the fact: we can forget about privatization in the next few years, the plant in unlikely to get up from its knees," he wrote in his blog on Facebook.

According to local media reports, the reason for the stop was reduction in natural gas supplies by Ukrtransgaz.

As reported, on July 18 Ukrtransgaz announced it would start disconnecting the plant from gas supplies because of the breach of the contract for natural gas transportation in July 2016 – no prepayment, as well as excess gas extraction in the current month of the same year. Ukrtransgaz specified it was keeping pressure at the minimum acceptable level for the work of the enterprise's equipment at 9 atm. with the norm being 14 atm.