KYIV. Jan 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Economic Development and Trade Minister of Ukraine Aivaras Abromavicius has proposed that all companies that will be privatized are divided into three groups, and the first group consists of around 25 largest companies which privatization could be interesting for transnational companies and other large foreign investors.
“We proposed that everything is divided into three parts: large companies with a potential of the interest of large foreign investors – around 25 companies and focus on them: port infrastructure, energy sector, chemicals and other sectors,” he told reporters on the sidelines of Ukrainian Breakfast in Davos organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation on January 22.
He said that the second group would consist of the rest of large Ukrainian enterprises where there are no foreign investors.
“The rest of the companies – mass privatization (around 1,700 facilities) – to sell transparently using the online portal created by the State Property Fund to Ukrainian small and medium enterprises (SMEs),” he said.
The minister said that he believes that the large privatization should be started with the sale of Odesa Port-Side Plant.
He said that the resumption of large privatization is a priority task in 2016.
Finance Minister of Ukraine Natalie Jaresko added that the privatization remains one of the benchmarks of the IMF-supported Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
KYIV. Jan 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrainian State Center of Radio Frequencies (UCRF) has selected Dialink LLC to buy software and equipment on the introduction of the mobile number portability (MNP) service.
The decision was made by the tender committee on Monday.
Earlier the company offered the price of UAH 71.774 million.
Head of the tender committee Vadym Hulko said that Huawei Ukraine, SI Center LLC and Ukrainian Special Systems were not allowed to take part in the tender, as their documents did not meet the conditions of the tender.
According to the state register of companies, ultimate beneficiaries of Dialink are Tetiana Nechyporuk and Serhiy Khalymonenko.
A representative of SI Center LLC said after the decision of the tender committee that the company would appeal to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.
In November 2014, the UCRF announced the repeated tender to buy the MNP introduction services.
Six companies submitted their bids: Huawei Ukraine LLC (the offered price with VAT is UAH 26.932 million), Ericsson Ukraine (UAH 107.666 million), Dialink LLC (UAH 71.774 million), SI Center LLC (UAH 39.582 million), T4B (Poland) (UAH 82.284 million) and state enterprise Ukrainian Special Systems (UAH 89.2712 million).
KYIV. Jan 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrainian government will carry out the policy aimed at opening the new markets for Ukrainian products and creating new jobs in 2016, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has said.
“We would focus our efforts on obtaining all the possible advantages opened with the Ukraine-EU DCFTA [the deep and comprehensive free trade area] Agreement. The separate efforts will be focused on the ad hoc trade missions of the state abroad to back Ukrainian exports,” Yatseniuk said on the “Ten minutes with the prime minister” TV program on Sunday night.
He said that the tax reform, the deregulation in the economy and its de monopolization will continue.
He said that one of the top priorities of the cabinet is the holding of fair privatization. He reminded that the parliament eleven times failed to pass the new law on privatization.
“Let the government to hold transparent privatization to allow attracting new investment and creating new jobs,” he said.
The prime minister said that the government would continue working on the facilitation of the provision of administrative services in the country.
“The key attention will be paid to the reform of the State Fiscal Service. Several customs offices in Ukraine would be transferred to the management of leading foreign companies as an extraordinary way to combat corruption and abuse of power,” Yatseniuk said.
KYIV. Jan 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian producer of lubricants Agrinol together with East Petronics Ltd (the UAE) will build two plants for the production of oils and lubricants with a capacity of about 10,000 tonnes per year each in Latvia and Georgia, the press service of Agrinol has said.
“Participation in the project for Agrinol is to design, manufacture and install equipment, create technical regulations and organize production processes. This project is financed by foreign partners,” reads the report.
Industrial facilities will be built in Latvia (near Liepaja city) and on the basis of the former Kutaisi automobile factory in Georgia.
“The plant in Kutaisi is now at the stage of installation and commissioning of equipment, that in Liepaja is at the stage of design,” the Ukrainian company said.
The new plants will produce goods for the markets of the European Union, the Middle East and Central Asia.
KYIV. Jan 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Metinvest B.V. (the Netherlands), the parent company of Metinvest international vertically integrated mining and metallurgical group, in November 2015 had a negative EBITDA of $4 million, whereas in the previous month this figure was positive in the amount of $2 million.
According to the published preliminary unaudited consolidated financial statements under IFRS, the company’s revenues in November 2015 amounted to $475 million, while in the previous month $530 million.
Comparable results for November 2014 and October 2014 are not given.
The report states that the adjusted EBITDA of the group’s steel division for November 2015 amounted to “minus” $2 million (in October of 2015 some $1 million), the mining division $2 million ($15 million), the costs of the management company “minus” $9 million (“minus” $10 million), intercompany sales $5 million (“minus” $5 million). As a result, total EBITDA in November stood at “minus” $4 million (in October $2 million).
Total revenues in November consisted of revenues of the group’s metal division in the amount of $392 million (in October 2015 some $447 million), mining division $202 million ($279 million), intercompany sales “minus” $119 million (“minus” $196 million). As a result, total revenues in November were $475 million (in October $530 million).
KYIV. Jan 25 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Participants in the World Economic Forum in Davos have advised Ukrainian authorities to focus on holding a transparent privatization, deregulation and the introduction of high technologies in 2016, Ukraine’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade Aivaras Abromavicius has told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, a session dedicated to Ukraine was held in Davos on January 21, which was attended by the heads of state, representatives of the European Union, the United States and the leaders of multinational companies who are interested in or are already present in Ukraine.
“We are required acceleration in many areas. Almost all of them noted that among the main reforms for this year are privatization, which must be transparent,” he said.
According to Abromavicius, the participants in the meeting also noted that Ukraine needs to conduct deregulation, reform the civil service system, which will allow to increase the level of wages to civil servants, as well as reform the law enforcement system.
