The Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Development has recommended the adoption at the second reading bill No. 4543 on unblocking large-scale privatization, while its consideration is planned for next week, Deputy Head of the Committee Roksolana Pidlasa (the Servant of the People faction) told Interfax-Ukraine.
“The committee has just recommended bill No. 4543 on unblocking large-scale privatization for the second reading without changes. It is planned that next week the bill will be considered by the Verkhovna Rada,” she said after the committee meeting on Friday.
According to Roksolana Pidlasa, the law, if adopted, should enter into force the next day after its publication.
“For the first half of 2021, within the framework of large-scale privatization, it is planned to have President Hotel, United Mining and Chemical Company [UMCC], and First Kyiv Machine-Building Plant [previously Bolshevik plant]. There are audit reports on them and the process of preparing for privatization can be started,” the deputy head of the committee said.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada on February 4 adopted government bill No. 4543, which provided for unblocking the large-scale privatization process.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will speak at the beginning of the fourth Ukrainian-German economic forum, which will be held on March 19.
“Together with high-ranking speakers from Ukraine and Germany, we want to raise current topics and put them up for discussion in several panels. President of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry Eric Schweitzer will open the conference together with Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal,” says the forum program.
Merkel’s speech is scheduled for 10:00 on Friday.
According to the organizers, the German-Ukrainian business forum serves as a platform for the discussion and development of economic relations between Germany and Ukraine. It is intended for business and political decision makers in Germany and Ukraine. In connection with the coronavirus pandemic, the forum will be held digitally with live broadcast from the German Business House in Berlin.
The Embassy of Ukraine in Germany announced that within the framework of the forum, international experts of the highest level in four consecutive panels will discuss the topics of industrial development and digitalization, energy and renewable energy, food processing and agriculture, as well as logistics and infrastructure. Ukrainian ministers from the aforementioned sectors, as well as representatives of German politics and international economics, are invited to participate in the discussion.
The forum is organized by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, UkraineInvest, the Ukrainian Embassy in Germany in cooperation with the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), the German-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK Ukraine) and the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations.
National bank of Ukraine’s official rates as of 12/03/21
Source: National Bank of Ukraine
Official rates of banking metals from national bank as of March 12
One troy ounce=31.10 grams
Ukraine’s gross domestic product (GDP) could grow by 4.3% in 2021, according to the economic forecast of the German Economic Team (GET) and the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting.
“In 2021, we expect a recovery of the economy thanks to the growth of private consumption in relation to demand and increased production in industry, transport, as well as in agriculture in relation to supply. This will be facilitated by the recovery of the economy in partner countries and an increase in trade flows,” the experts said.
At the same time, they note the uncertainty about the future situation with the pandemic, cooperation with the IMF and political risks as early elections.
At the same time, the experts said that quarantine restrictions could last until the end of spring, and cooperation with the IMF would be unblocked, and the funds could be received in April-June, as well as in the second half of 2021.
The analysts also expect inflation to slightly exceed the National Bank’s target range in the short term.
Motor Sich PJSC will soon be legally returned to the ownership of Ukraine, said Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine.
“… We are talking about the Motor Sich enterprise in Zaporozhia. To date, a decision has been made according to which the Motor Sich enterprise will be returned to the Ukrainian people. It will be returned to the ownership of the Ukrainian state in a legal, constitutional way in the near future,” Danilov said at a briefing on Thursday following the results of the NSDC meeting.
Every case of Ukrainian defense industry enterprises “miraculously ending up in private hands” will be considered separately, he said.
“People who have invested in these enterprises will certainly receive proper compensation. This is being done for our country’s national security,” Danilov said.
Motor Sich is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of aircraft engines and industrial gas turbine units. It exports its products to more than 100 countries. Motor Sich reported UAH 930.2 million in net profits in January-September 2020, while it saw net losses of UAH 532.7 million in the same period in 2019. The company’s net revenue has grown by 20.2% to UAH 7.6795 billion.
As reported earlier, Chinese shareholders of Motor Sich initiated arbitration proceedings worth $3.6 billion against the state of Ukraine in December 2020. They argued that the Ukrainian government expropriated their investments and violated their other rights guaranteed by the October 1992 intergovernmental agreement between Ukraine and China on the encouragement and mutual protection of investments. The international law firms WilmerHale, DLA Piper, and Bird&Bird are representing Chinese investors’ interests in the claim.
According to a government source, about 75% of Motor Sich’s stock already belongs to Chinese investors, while a portion of the disputed stake is being used as security for financing provided, among other investors, by China Development Bank.
Wang Jing’s Beijing Xinwei said in early August 2020 that it had abandoned attempts to obtain permission to buy Motor Sich jointly with Ukroboronprom and that Oleksandr Yaroslavsky’s company DCH was its new partner in the deal. The companies have filed four applications with Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee to approve the deal, the last time in December 2020, but none of them have been granted yet.
Another attempt to hold a shareholders meeting on January 31 also failed in view of the fact that a 41% stake in the company was frozen at the Ukrainian Security Service’s initiative in 2017, and the freeze was later expanded to the entire stock. On January 29, 2021, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky enforced a National Security and Defense Council decision to impose sanctions on Chinese citizen Wang and companies Beijing Xinwei Technology Group Co., Ltd; Beijing Skyrizon Aviation Industry Investment Co., Ltd (both Beijing-based); Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings Limited (the British Virgin Islands); and Hong Kong Skyrizon Holdings Limited (Hong Kong), which are associated with Wang and which have been trying over the past several years to exercise the Motor Sich shareholders’ rights in Ukraine. In the wake of this decision, China forwarded a note to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
Former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said at the end of August 2019 that the U.S. was concerned about Motor Sich’s possible sale to Chinese investors. U.S. Charge d’Affaires ad interim to Ukraine William Taylor said at the end of 2019 that the U.S. expected a new deal to be concluded to invite a U.S. or some other investor to Motor Sich to prevent its sale to Chinese buyers.
The Bureau of Industry and Security at the U.S. Department of Commerce put the Chinese company Skyrizon on its Military End User list in early January 2021, meaning that cooperation with it requires special authorization. “Skyrizon – a Chinese state-owned company – and its push to acquire and indigenize foreign military technologies pose a significant threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross was quoted as saying.
