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Novorossiysk authorities are due to hold a public hearing later this month to discuss the possible environmental impact of the new Novorossiysk Fuel Oil Terminal, currently under construction at the Black Sea port.

Industry sources report that the hearing is scheduled to take place on September 21st and will be headed by the deputy head of security and civil protection and head of interaction with law enforcement authorities, Valery Lissitzky.

Operating company Novorossiysk Fuel Oil Terminal LLC is 50 percent owned by Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port, PJSC (NCSP/NMTP Group). NCSP annnounced the acquisition of additional land plots for construction of the terminal in May 2010 after North-Caucasus Rail Road - a branch of OAO Russian Railways - and NCSP signed the agreement of transfer of rights to sub-tenancy for land plots with a total area of 10.62 hectares, located within the cargo yard of the Novorossiysk train station.

Through the agreement, Novorossiysk Fuel Oil Terminal LLC acquired the rights of usage and ownership of the land plots for deploying and operating the fuel oil terminal for a term period of over 40 years.

The terminal will have an initial storage capacity of 82,000 cubic metres, two railway discharge galleries for 60 and 48 tank cars as well as pipelines and other units of infrastructure. Estimates on the total investment in the project have ranged between US$160 million and US$235 million.

Last month, NCSP announced plans to borrow US$110 million from Raiffeisenbank on security of its 50 percent stake in the Novorossiysk Fuel Oil Terminal, for further development of the facility.

NCSP is owner of Novorossiysk bunker supplier JSC Flot NMTP, also known as PJSC Fleet of NCSP. Flot NMTP is the largest private towing and tugboat company in Russia, offering a full range of fleet services at the port, including tug and towing services, bunkering, water and environmental protection services. The company has 46 ships, including tugboats, bunkering vessels, specialized vessels and inshore boats.

The fleet includes 26 tugboats, seven bunkering vessels with a cargo capacity ranging from 250 to 3,000 tonnes, 10 auxiliary vessels (environmental protection, waste collection and passenger ships) and two water carriers.

Ownership of NCSP Group changed hands towards the end of last year. Transneft, a Russian state-owned business responsible for the national oil pipelines, which transports a large percentage of the oil produced in the country, announced in December 2010 that its board of directors had preliminarily approved the acquisition of NCSP, a move aimed at strengthening the company's position in oil transportation.

Omirico, acting in the interests of Transneft, acquired a 100 percent stake in Novoport Ltd., which owned 50.1 percent of NCSP. As part of the deal, NCSP acquired 100 percent ownership of Primorsk Trade Port LLC, an operator at the port of Primorsk, located northwest of St. Petersburg.

The Primorsk Trade Port acquisition was completed on January 21st 2011. To provide partial financing for the acquisition NCSP attracted a long-term credit facility from Sberbank of Russia in the amount of USD 1.95 billion with a tenure of 7 years.