Odesa, March 2, 2015 The management and staff of private enterprise Illichivsk Container Terminal has addressed the president of Ukraine with an open letter calling for the objective and impartial resolution of the dispute between the terminal and state enterprise Illichivsk maritime merchant port. As reported, the terminal is appealing the court decision initiated by the port to terminate a joint venture agreement signed by the parties in 2005. "Private enterprise with foreign investment Illichivsk Container Terminal is on the verge of terminating its operations as a result of the direct disregard of the law of Ukraine on seaports of Ukraine by state enterprises Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority and Illichivsk seaport," reads the open letter published in the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper on February 28. The authors of the letter to the president of Ukraine state that the port "in violation of government guarantees that the investment agreement will continue to have effect, is attempting to resolve the conflict in its favor by terminating the joint venture agreement through litigation proceedings." "The terminal considers the decision unlawful and has launched an appeal against it," argues the letter. According to Terminal CEO Andriy Pavliutin, the co-author of the open letter, "the violation of state guarantees for investments in the terminal's case can lead to extremely negative consequences for Ukraine, the loss of confidence of foreign investors – private beneficiaries of the terminal: US investment fund Siguler Guff & Company and German SRR Deutschland and further reduction of foreign investment in Ukraine. Creating a negative precedent for attracting new investments would adversely affect the feasibility of State Seaports Development Strategy in Ukraine." The letter to the president highlights the social aspect of the conflict. "The arbitrary termination of the joint venture agreement will implicate a number of negative consequences for the social welfare of 600 terminal employees, who will lose their jobs and thus their only source of income. Given the financial dependence of the city of Illichivsk on the port's operations, drawbacks in container handling because of the termination of the agreement will adversely influence the well-being of the city," the terminal staff stated. Illichivsk Container Terminal was established in 2005 with the goal of expanding the infrastructure and increasing the throughput of Illichivsk seaport. Since the signing of the joint-venture agreement between the port and the terminal, there have been over $56 million invested into the large scale reconstruction of the container terminal. Additional information can be found on www.kti-terminal.com or via phone +38 063 725 2222 or e-mail: [email protected]