KYIV. Sept 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – A total of 15 investors have signed confidentiality contracts with Ukraine’s State Property Fund (SPF) to have the right to study regional electricity supply companies with the purpose of participation in their privatization, SPF Head Ihor Bilous has said.
“There are around 15 investors, and 95% of them are foreigners. There are several Ukrainian companies. This will be international privatization,” he said on 3s.tv channel.
Bilous said that this autumn it is planned to put six regional electricity supply companies and four combined heat and power plants up for sale. He said that there are no buyers for the combined heat and power plants.
He welcomed the adoption of the law on the regulator – National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation (NCER) – last week and expressed hope that the NCER would soon endorse RAB (Regulatory Asset Base) regulation.
He said that investors are to invest at least $30 million in each of the six companies.
Commenting on Centrenergo, Bilous said that active advertising of the company will start at the end of this year, and it is preliminarily planned to put it up for sale in Q2 2017. He said that thanks to donors a technical advisor has been hired – Deloitte. Bilous predicts that several times more funds will be spent to prepare Centrenergo for the privatization compared to UAH 25 million allocated for Odesa Port-Side Plant.
Bilous also said that he hopes that Odesa Port-Side Plant will be sold this November. The approval of the starting price is left. He said that some clauses of the sale and purchase agreement would refer to English law foreseeing international arbitration. It is done to attract investors.
According to the privatization schedule approved on September 23, SPF seeks to announce tenders to sell 65.001% in Kharkivoblenergo, 70% in Mykolaivoblenergo, 50.999% in Ternopiloblenergo and 70.009% Khmelnytskoblenergo, and in November – 60.248% in Zaporizhiaoblenergo.
It is planned to put 71% in Cherkasyoblenergo up for sale, but the 46% stake managed by the fund is to be merged with the 25% stake belonged to private joint-stock company Ukresco.
KYIV. Sept 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Energomashspetsstal (Kramatorsk, Donetsk region), belonged to Russia’s Atomenergomash, in March 2017 will supply back-up rolls to ArcelorMittal Poland steel works.
According to a posting on the Energomashspetsstal’s website, two rolls weighing 108.5 tonnes will be installed at the hot rolling sheet mill 2300 of the Polish enterprise.
Energomashspetsstal is the largest Ukrainian producer of special cast and forged products for individual and small-scale production for metallurgy, shipbuilding, energy (wind, steam, hydro, nuclear) and general engineering. It has been part of the mechanical engineering division of Rosatom since 2010.
KYIV. Sept 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The fate of capital markets in the financial sector development program until 2020 and the reform of capital market infrastructure in Ukraine will be discussed by participants of the Ukrainian Financial Forum 2016 to be held in Odesa on September 29 and September 30.
ICU Investment Group, the organizer of the forum, told Interfax-Ukraine that four other panel discussions will be devoted to the macroeconomic and financial situation in Ukraine, development of financial tools, the institutional capability of capital market regulators and institutional investors as the base for revitalizing the Ukrainian stock market.
Leaders of the National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market, National Bank of Ukraine, national commission for financial service markets regulation and representatives of the government and international financial institutions will speak at the forum.
Partners of the forum are American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Stock Traders, ACI Ukraine (the Financial Markets Association) and Independent Association of Banks of Ukraine.
KYIV. Sept 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Israeli businessmen show their interest to the privatization in Ukraine to take place in 2016 and 2017, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.
“We have agreed on significant broadening of economic cooperation. I proposed to our Israeli partners and investors to take part in the large-scale privatization to take place in Ukraine in 2016 and 2017. We heard the large interest in it,” he said at a joint briefing with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday in Kyiv.
The parties have also agreed to promptly conduct the regular session of the Ukraine-Israel Joint Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation.
“We have agreed that we need to hold the next session of the joint Ukrainian-Israeli committee on trade and economic cooperation as soon as possible. It was planned that the first meeting will take place in three years, but we agreed to hold it now,” Poroshenko said.
He also expressed his hope that the delegation made progress on the further liberalization of air traffic.
“We need to remove any obstacles both for Israeli and Ukrainian companies,” he said.
“We have also agreed to initiate practical cooperation in scientific-technical sphere, tourism and agriculture. Ukrainians are particularly interested in the experience of Israel in irrigation farming,” Poroshenko said.
KYIV. Sept 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Investment in the launch of a new sunflower seeds crushing plant belonged to Agroliga Group are assessed at $9 million, the group has reported on its website.
“The total sum of financing is estimated at $9 million, including $6.7 million financed from external sources,” Director General Oleksandr Berdnik said.
He said that a land parcel to build the plant with all communications and railway track has been allocated in Kharkiv region.
The group said that the company raised the required funds and settled first advance payments for equipment.
The group’s share of the sunflower oil market in Kharkiv region would reach 10-12% after the launch of the plant.
KYIV. Sept 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Public joint-stock company Ukrgazvydobuvannia has started producing diesel fuel meeting Euro 4 emission standard at the facilities of Shebelynka gas refinery.
The company’s press service reported that the certificate confirms compliance of fuel with Euro 4 emission standard and GOST 7688:2015 standard.
First batches of Euro 4 diesel fuel made at Shebelynka gas refinery will be sold via own filling station chain and shipped to fuel own trucks and special machinery.
The press service said that the modern equipment bought by the company requires modern fuel. In H1 2016, the company bought specialized machinery for UAH 248 million.
