The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) has sold a complex of buildings of the Uman Correctional Colony for UAH 29 million at a privatization auction, which is 194 times higher than the starting price.
According to SPF Chairman Vitaliy Koval on Facebook, 42 companies and entrepreneurs participated in the auction. The starting price of the lot was UAH 149.4 thousand.
According to the results of the auction on the Prozorro.Sale website, the winner of the auction was Borys Pakholyuk. According to Clarity Project, he owns a number of agricultural enterprises and farms in Cherkasy and Odesa regions.
The lot includes a complex of non-residential buildings and structures with a total area of 3.1 thousand square meters and a land plot of 0.59 hectares. The property had not been used for more than 20 years.
Koval reminded that the Ministry of Justice transfers unused penitentiary institutions to the SPF for further privatization.
NPC Ukrenergo has announced a competition for the vacant position of a member of the Management Board, documents for which can be submitted by 18:00 on April 8, 2024.
According to the announcement on the company’s website, the main requirements are: higher education; at least five years of strategic and managerial leadership experience in international development, business development, operations and/or program management in large companies.
The candidate must also have a deep understanding of the national and European electricity markets, trends and prospects of the industry, and the specifics of the ENTSO-E transmission system operators.
In addition, a potential Board member should have competence in at least one of the following areas: business strategy and development, regulatory issues, legal support, finance and audit.
In case of equally developed skills, preference will be given to a candidate with experience at the executive level in the transmission system operators of ENTSO-E members.
As reported, the Board of Ukrenergo consists of Volodymyr Kudrytskyi (Chairman), Oleksii Brekht (Operation and Development of Grids), Serhii Halahan (IT) and Oleh Skrypnyk (Finance).
At the end of January 2024, Maryna Bezrukova, a former member of the NPC’s Management Board, became the head of the Defense Procurement Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
The International Register of Losses is projected to receive up to 8 million applications from victims of Russian aggression, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said.
“Today in The Hague should start working the International Register of losses, where all Ukrainians who suffered from Russian aggression will be able to apply. First of all we launch the fixing of damaged or destroyed housing. Applications will be submitted through “Dia”, everything is maximally digitalized and convenient, “- said Shmygal at a government meeting on Tuesday.
Prime Minister noted that according to forecasts, only in the housing segment the Register will receive from 300 to 600 thousand applications from the victims.
“In total, we expect up to 8 million applications from all those affected by the war in one way or another. Consistently and purposefully realize the principle “Russia will pay” and create a precedent of material responsibility of the aggressor for the losses caused by them,” – said Shmygal.
CITIZENS OF UKRAINE, International Register of Losses, RUSSIAN AGGRESSION
The majority of job offers are for blue-collar occupations. In addition, there is a growing demand for professionals such as teachers, doctors, economists, and accountants.
Thus, Kyiv employers are most often looking for specialists in the following areas:
– Education (teachers (109 vacancies, salary – up to UAH 20 thousand), educators (47 vacancies, up to UAH 17 thousand);
– healthcare (doctors (159 vacancies, up to UAH 40 thousand), nurses / medical brothers (134 vacancies, up to UAH 43 thousand);
– Economics (economists (60 vacancies, up to 32 thousand UAH), accountants (166 vacancies, up to 43 thousand UAH);
– industry (engineers (196 vacancies, up to UAH 110 thousand), installers of electronic equipment (200 vacancies, up to UAH 17 thousand), mechanics (224 vacancies, up to UAH 30 thousand), turners (32 vacancies, up to UAH 22 thousand);
– transportation (drivers (167 vacancies, up to UAH 44 thousand);
– trade and consumer services (salespeople (302 vacancies, up to UAH 25 thousand), cashiers (76 vacancies, up to UAH 17 thousand, cooks (125 vacancies, up to UAH 45 thousand), cleaners (239 vacancies, up to UAH 18 thousand), loaders (63 vacancies, up to UAH 30 thousand).
Employers offer job seekers official employment, competitive salaries, social package (may include housing issues), organization of vocational training directly at the workplace.
With the help of the Kyiv ILC, job seekers can acquire a new profession or upgrade their skills in an existing one using one of the employment assistance programs:
– training by certificate
– training by voucher;
– training for veterans at vocational education institutions of the State Employment Service.
Since the beginning of 2024, more than 2.1 thousand employers in the capital have informed the Kyiv City Employment Center of 5.5 thousand vacancies.
Currently, the database of the Kyiv City Employment Center contains more than 2.8 thousand vacancies: 1200 for employees and workers and almost 400 for people without a profession or specialty.
China’s economy grew by about 4.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, Bank of China forecasts.
Domestic consumption grew stronger than expected. Manufacturing investment increased, production is also recovering steadily, and the trend of industrial upgrading and transformation is evident, according to the bank’s report cited by Xinhua news agency.
A positive factor for Chinese exports was the increase in global demand and improved sentiment in global trade.
Bank of China analysts expect that the second quarter will see an improvement in China’s service sector, resulting in an acceleration of the country’s GDP growth to 5.1%. This will also be facilitated by the authorities’ actions aimed at maintaining significant investment in infrastructure through the use of a wide range of policy instruments.
Earlier Experts Club think tank and Maxim Urakin released a video analysis of how the GDP of the world’s countries has changed in recent years, more detailed video analysis is available here – https://youtu.be/w5fF_GYyrIc?si=BsZmIUERHSBJrO_3
Subscribe to Experts Club YouTube channel here – https://www.youtube.com/@ExpertsClub
Bank of China Economy of China, EXPERTS CLUB, GDP, MACROECONOMICS, URAKIN
Vitaliy Koval, Head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine
Small-scale privatization has been systematically gaining momentum over the past 5 years (from 2019 to 2023) with some interruptions, in particular due to a full-scale invasion. Last year’s performance largely surpassed all previous results and demonstrated the effectiveness and timeliness of privatization in general.
Budget revenues
As a result of small-scale privatization in 2019, which was carried out by the State Property Fund of Ukraine, the budget received approximately UAH 561 million. The following year, this amount increased almost 5 times and exceeded UAH 2.69 billion. In 2021, the budget received UAH 3.5 billion. In 2022, when there was a break in privatization until September, the Fund transferred assets worth UAH 1.74 billion to private investors in less than six months.
Last year, proceeds from the privatization of state property amounted to UAH 2.84 billion. The state has fully resumed this process and is helping to support the state budget with funds that ensure our protection and defense against the aggressor. In total, over the past 5 years, privatization revenues, excluding large-scale privatization objects, amounted to UAH 11.34 billion.
As for the price of the assets sold by the Fund, the final value of the property increased the most compared to the starting price in 2020.
Increase in the sale price of assets relative to their initial value
After the fall of this indicator in 2021, it has been growing over the past two years. Thus, in 2023, the sale price was 2.7 times higher than the initial price.
Competition in auctions
The increase in budget revenues and the growth of the final price indicate an important thing. Participants in the auctions held by the SPFU through the Prozorro.Sale system are interested in state assets and are ready to fight for them. The indicators of competitiveness in 2023 leave no doubt about this.
Average competition in privatization auctions
Over the past 5 years, competition in successful auctions has been growing steadily. But while from 2020 to 2022 its level was in the range of 3.1-3.6 bidders per auction, in 2023 almost 5 bidders competed for each lot on average.
This year, there is every chance of exceeding even such strong results: in the first quarter of 2024, more than 5 bidders took part in each successful auction on average.
Business interest in state assets
Business activity in privatization auctions is driven by many factors. Some companies need to relocate to regions far from the front line. Some entrepreneurs want to build a business on a ready-made material base, with the infrastructure, equipment and communications offered by the state when it sells, for example, single property complexes. Others need real estate, warehouses, workshops, garages, etc. to expand their current capacities.
So entrepreneurship in Ukraine is developing even in the face of war and other difficulties. And the government is striving to provide business with resources that will help it do so.
There are lots in which the market sees such great prospects and value that dozens of participants compete for them at once. The record was set in 2020, when 48 bidders competed for an unfinished garage for 50 cars in Kyiv. The second lot was non-residential premises in Uzhhorod. This auction, which had 47 bidders, took place in 2023.
As a result of this demand, the price of the first property in Kyiv increased almost 35 times (from just over UAH 1 million to UAH 36 million). And the cost of the second lot in Uzhhorod increased 818 times (from UAH 12.2 thousand to UAH 10 million).
Businesses are interested in assets of different sizes, but the vast majority of lots sold through privatization cost up to UAH 1 million.
Distribution of successful auctions by the final value of the privatized object
In 2020, the share of auctions where the sale price of an asset was up to UAH 1 million reached a maximum of 86%. At the same time, in 2022, the share of auctions with the final value of the object from UAH 1 to UAH 10 million and even in the range of UAH 10-100 million increased significantly. Last year, the trend went in the opposite direction again: the number of assets sold for up to UAH 1 million began to grow.
It is also important to understand the overall economic context in Ukraine. A sharp drop in the hryvnia exchange rate, the crisis in many markets, the occupation of territories, and many other things have affected the ability of businesses to operate. This has hit small businesses particularly hard, as their already scarce material resources have been significantly depreciated and other problems have been added.
The return of demand for inexpensive, small state assets suggests that small and medium-sized businesses are resuming activity and continuing to grow after the first shocks of the full-scale invasion.
The average number of bidders in privatization auctions, relative to the final value of assets
At the same time, large market players are also interested in large state-owned assets when they come up for sale. Thus, in 2023, an average of 14.1 bidders participated in auctions with a sale price of more than UAH 100 million. At the same time, the average competition in auctions up to UAH 1 million last year amounted to 3.9 participants.
Efficiency of privatization processes
Overall, privatization auctions attracted thousands of players from different markets. The highest number of bidders, namely 2035, was in 2023. This is 3.3 times more than in 2022 and almost twice as many as in 2021. In 2020, this figure exceeded 1340 bidders. And in 2019, when privatization had just intensified, there were about 800 of them.
Legislative changes, business activity, competitive bidding, and their transparency and openness have helped to increase the efficiency of privatization processes. At the same time, the State Property Fund has also changed its approach in recent years and improved the process of preparing objects for sale. Information about the availability of state assets for privatization was disseminated through various communication channels to draw attention to these lots. In general, all information about the current lots, how to participate in the auction, and the results of privatization is collected on a separate special resource.
The Fund has developed a mechanism for sorting (triage) state assets, depending on their condition and market needs. The property that has no value or exists only on paper will be liquidated or bankrupt. Those objects that can work for the benefit of the economy in private hands will be privatized.
Effective steps taken by the SPFU and the interest of private investors have yielded results: in 2023, the share of successful auctions increased many times over compared to previous years.
Increase in the share of successful SPFU auctions
The lowest rate of successful auctions was recorded in 2021-2022: it was 17% of all announced auctions. Therefore, the peak result of almost 47% last year is a difference of 2.8 times.
Over the past 5 years, privatization has become more efficient, increased revenue, and attracted the attention of more and more entrepreneurs. This proves the success of Ukraine’s privatization strategy, when the state, instead of subsidizing unprofitable assets, gives them a new life and helps generate funds for the state budget at a time when the survival of our country depends on these revenues.
