Business news from Ukraine

CABINET TO APPROVE PRIVATIZATION PLAN FOR FIRST FIVE STATE COMPANIES BY OCT 2015 – MEMO WITH IMF

6 August , 2015  

KYIV. Aug 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrainian government will by the end of September approve a plan for the privatization of the first five state-owned companies, according to the updated memorandum on cooperation between Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to the text of the memorandum, by the end of September 2015 the list of state companies will be reviewed to identify non-operating companies for immediate liquidation. The review, prepared in consultation with IMF staff, will outline a timeline for the disposal of each company with the necessary intermediate steps, as well as preliminary estimates of budgetary and other costs stemming from liquidation, with the goal of initiating the first liquidations by late 2015.

Profile ministries will prepare the priority privatization list of ten companies by late July 2015. Companies will be selected based on cost-benefit analyses. Building on this list, a working group, including the State Property Fund (SPF), will be established to develop a privatization action plan. The plan will define the key parameters and conditions of the process, including the timeline for divesting, methods of privatization, and intermediate steps to be taken for each company. The action plans for five of these companies will be approved by an SPF decision by late August 2015.

“Furthermore, we will seek adoption, by cabinet resolution, of the action plan for these five companies by the end of September 2015,” the memorandum said.