Agro Gas Trading (AGT) fully fulfilled its contractual obligations to the Odesa Port Plant (OPZ) even after OPZ entered shutdown mode in autumn 2021.
This was stated by AGT partner Oleksandr Gorbunenko in an interview with Yuriy Romanenko, commenting on the company's role in supporting OPZ on the eve of its shutdown and during attempts to resume the plant's operations after the start of full-scale war.
According to him, AGT worked with the plant in 2019-2021 within a tolling model, under which the company independently purchased gas, financed the launch of units and paid for raw material processing, receiving and selling finished products (fertilizers and ammonia).
"We took on all risks – price, technological, production. We advanced processing payments, financed repairs, unit preparation and launch after shutdown. These were real investments in restoring enterprise operations," Gorbunenko noted.
He emphasized that in 2021–2022, AGT not only fulfilled the financial terms of contracts with OPZ, but also continued to maintain the plant's technical readiness:
"Even after cooperation ended, we supplied technical gas to keep equipment in working condition. We acted responsibly toward a strategic asset."
Gorbunenko also recalled that in 2022, AGT attempted to restart the enterprise already under full-scale war conditions. According to him, AGT concluded a new contract with the plant, contracted gas, began production preparation and negotiations with product buyers, but the contract was terminated unilaterally.
"We signed a contract, began launch preparation, and then the plant independently terminated the agreement – without explanation," the AGT partner noted.
AGT believes these facts demonstrate systemic difficulties in business interaction with the state and state-owned assets, and the absence of consistent policy regarding strategic enterprises.
The company emphasizes that their position remains unchanged: production launch, stable plant operation and transparent rules for investors must become the state's priority.
As a reminder, in 2025 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine announced the privatization of the Odesa Port Plant. However, the auction scheduled for November 25, 2025, never took place, and AGT was not allowed to participate in privatization without explanation. Gorbunenko calls the official reason for auction cancellation, namely "absence of participants," an "unprofessional excuse." Further AGT attempts to propose to OPZ a launch model based on tolling raw material supply were ignored by the plant's management.
