In an extensive interview with Ekonomicheskaya Pravda, Vladimir Petrenko, the owner of the UPG group of companies, spoke about the business opportunities opened up by acquiring a marine terminal for transshipment and storage of petroleum products in Poland.
At the beginning of the year, this news caused a stir, because it was the first agreement with Ukrainian companies. The businessman also shared how he had to face another challenge – to endure competitors’ attempts to tarnish UPG’s brand.
“This is a very big and risky investment for us. But we took that risk. One terminal, a sea terminal in Swinoujscie, can accommodate tankers with a capacity to transport up to 40,000 tons and transship up to 300,000 tons per month. And the second terminal, the river, in Szczecin can transship up to 200 thousand tons per month. Now we are building railways, which will increase transshipment capacity to 50,000 tons per month. That means, the total volume that we can handle will be 550,000 tons. It will saturate not only the Ukrainian, but also the Polish market with light oil products“, – said Vladimir Petrenko.
Ensuring such volume of transshipment will significantly strengthen the Ukrainian market. Vladimir Petrenko said that his company is a relatively strong player in the domestic wholesale market and will continue to develop in this area, increasing sales: “We are talking about end users, manufacturers, carriers, farmers, etc. That means, everyone who uses fuel to ensure their livelihood“.
During the war, the retail sector continued to develop: the construction of three new filling stations of the UPG network continued.
UPG terminal in Poland
In an interview with the publication, Petrenko also emphasized that after the conclusion of a high-profile agreement, his company suffered a major information attack aimed at causing reputational damage.
“…We are a major player, ranking second in terms of volume in the Ukrainian market and constantly growing. In these conditions, you will not like everything. But baseless accusations of collaboration with the aggressor country are too much. We are slandered in the media that the UPG network is allegedly connected to the citizens of Belarus…. By the same principle, it is possible to say about all the players in the market that they have “ears glued”. Until 24, almost the entire Ukrainian market cooperated with Belarus. The share of deliveries from this country reached 50% of all oil products in Ukraine“.
He emphasized that the UPG fundamentally stopped any relations with Belarus on the first day of a large-scale invasion, which was announced to the Ukrainians with an official statement.
“Since February 24, 2022, we found ourselves in a situation where in one day everything stopped for us: both normal life and business. We have not cooperated with the main aggressor since 2014. During this time, not a single liter of fuel was delivered from there.“, added the businessman.
Source: korrespondent
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