Agro Gas Trading claims privatization of OPP, despite NABU investigation

Agro Gas Trading claims privatization of OPP, despite NABU investigation

A company previously mentioned in the NABU case regarding potential abuses at OPP is aiming to become its owner.

The company Agro Gas Trading (AGT) has applied to participate in the privatization auction of the Odesa Port Plant (OPP).

The auction is scheduled for November 25, 2025. As reported by the company’s press service, AGT has already paid the registration fee and signed a confidentiality agreement. The starting price for the enterprise is 4.48 billion UAH.

AGT claims to have a detailed plan for modernizing production, increasing efficiency, and stabilizing the plant’s operations after privatization. The company believes that under conditions of a "transparent auction and guarantees of uninterrupted production, privatization can be successful."

Agro Gas Trading recalls that it already has experience working with OPP. In 2019-2021, the company supplied the enterprise with 1.42 billion cubic meters of gas for the production of 1.735 million tons of urea and 187,000 tons of ammonia, over 90% of which was exported. At that time, according to AGT, the enterprise managed to repay 68.1 million UAH of debt to "Naftogaz" and retain over 3,000 jobs.

At the same time, NABU was conducting an investigation during this period into potential abuses in the management of OPP, in which Agro Gas Trading was mentioned.

In 2019-2021, according to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, a criminal organization obtained over 2 billion UAH in undue benefits from controlling OPP. AGT, as a partner of the plant supplying gas in exchange for finished products (ammonia and urea), played a key role in this scheme, according to the investigation.

According to the investigation, all the income from the sale of fertilizers was received by AGT, while the plant only had a fixed fee for processing. In 2020, according to calculations by the consulting group "A-95," AGT made $44 million in profits from cooperation with OPP, while the plant itself incurred a net loss of 1.2 billion UAH with revenues of 2.3 billion UAH.

However, the company’s official reports do not confirm super profits: in 2020, AGT declared a profit of 164.5 million UAH with revenues of 5.4 billion UAH.

Among the figures in the NABU case are the former head of the State Property Fund Dmytro Sennichenko and AGT co-owners Oleksandr Horbunenko and Volodymyr Kolot, who, according to the investigation, received improper benefits from the plant’s activities. Attempts to hold a competition for another partner, according to NABU, were blocked by the SPFU leadership and management loyal to it at OPP.

In a comment to Forbes, AGT co-owner Oleksandr Horbunenko rejected all NABU accusations, stating that the company acted within the framework of existing legislation.