Neptune — a joint project by Cargill, MV Cargo, and SD Capital: the largest infrastructure success story involving foreign investment in Ukraine since 2016

In 2016, the American corporation Cargill and the Ukrainian stevedoring company MV Cargo launched the construction of a modern grain terminal — Neptune — at the Port of Pivdennyi in Odesa Oblast. The project was supported by SD Capital, which provided end-to-end oversight — from legal and financial negotiations to construction and launch.

Since its commissioning in 2018, Neptune has become one of the key elements in Ukraine’s agricultural logistics. Today, it handles roughly one-third of the country’s total agricultural exports. In 2024 alone, the terminal paid USD 16 million in taxes across all budget levels and contributes significant annual revenue to the state treasury. It has created over 500 jobs and, during the full-scale war, has played a critical role in the global food security program aimed at preventing famine in the world’s most vulnerable regions.

The total investment in the project reached approximately USD 150 million. It was carried out with the participation of the EBRD and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), reflecting a high level of trust from international partners. Since 2016, no other joint venture of this scale has been implemented in Ukraine’s infrastructure sector.

SD Capital Co-Founder Andriy Stavnytskyi is a shareholder in Neptune, while fellow Co-Founder Philipp Hrushko served as the project’s key curator at every stage — from negotiations and deal structuring to launch and operational management. The SD Capital team ensured thorough, transparent, and strategic support in working with the EBRD and IFC, developing and launching the terminal, and managing the successful sale of a majority stake to Cargill, with continued involvement in the asset’s growth.

This experience became the foundation for the creation of SD Capital as an investment platform uniquely capable of “taking a major international investor by the hand” and guiding them through every stage of building a business in Ukraine — from first contact to full-scale implementation.