President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes that the state stakes of PJSC Centrenergo and PJSC Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant are ready for sale at privatization tenders.
“I believe that the privatization of Centrenergo is important. Today we have cleared the company of many influential groups and Centrenergo is open [for privatization] … So is Odesa Port-Side Plant. I believe that it is ready for today,” he said, when speaking with journalists at the all-Ukrainian forum Ukraine 30. Economy without Oligarchs.
Zelensky noted that when selling large enterprises, it is not so much a one-time receipt of the maximum possible funds that is important, but the obligation of potential investors to invest in the modernization of companies with the subsequent stable receipt of taxes from their economic activities.
“It is important not how much the state will receive at once, but how much later – from taxes every month, every year. Business is not about buy and sell, this is not about mediation, business is a constant investment of money in technologies, in ideas,” the head of state explained.
As reported, in early June, the Supreme Court satisfied the claim of Odesa Port-Side Plant and the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) and denied Ostchem Holding Limited of Dmytro Firtash in the execution of the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration Court to recover over $ 300 million from Odesa Port-Side Plant for gas supplies.
According to Head of the SPF Dmytro Sennychenko, this is a very important decision for the transparent privatization of the plant, since now any potential buyer can be sure that creditors will not be able to challenge his ownership of the plant.
CENTRENERGO, PORT-SIDE PLANT, PRESIDENT ZELENSKY, PRIVATIZATION
The Deposit Guarantee Fund (SPF) of Ukraine is working on preparations for the privatization of PJSC Centrenergo, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
“A lot of things are being said about Centrenergo. The company will prepare for privatization. The State Property Fund is engaged in this. They have a clear plan,” the head of state said during a press conference on Wednesday. More…
Kyiv’s business court has annulled a ban the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) from preparing for the privatization of PJSC Centrenergo, passing a ruling under a petition of the SPF on February 6, 2020.
The fund said on its website that at the end of January, the fund started the procedure of selecting investment advisors for the privatization of Centrenergo and is attracting an audit company with an impeccable reputation to conduct audit of the enterprise for 2019.
“In February, procedures to prepare a number of other large facilities for the privatization will be launched,” the SPF said.
As reported, Vitaliy Kropachev’s Ukrdoninvest LLC (Kyiv) repeatedly secured a lawsuit against the State Property Fund in the case of the privatization of PJSC Centrenergo by banning the fund from taking any actions to implement it.
Prosecutor’s office in Kyiv opened criminal proceedings on making the deliberately illegal decision to ban the privatization of PJSC Centrenergo by a judge of the business court of Kyiv.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) has issued an order to create a tender commission to select advisers for privatization of PJSC Centrenergo, the SPF press service has said.
“The State Property Fund of Ukraine has begun the process of selecting advisers for Centrenergo privatization. In February, preparations will be launched for the privatization of a number of large privatization objects. In order to analyze in detail the state of affairs in the company for 2019, the State Property Fund also attracts an audit company with an impeccable reputation,” the press service said citing head of the fund Dmytro Sennychenko.
He said he expects to hold a tender to select an adviser in the first half of this year. According to him, the tender for the sale of the state-owned stake in Centrenergo, in turn, could be held at the end of this year-the beginning of next year. At the same time, the expert said that the situation in the energy market could also influence the timing of its holding.
The head of the fund added that RAB regulation remains an important factor in the issue of terms of privatization of regional energy companies.
The agency noted that recently the members of the Centrenergo supervisory board had ben reshuffled, as well as an order had been issued to hold a tender for the post of head of the generation company.
These measures will ensure the most transparent and competitive privatization, the fund notes.
PJSC Centrenergo power generating company is in the top priority of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine regarding “large-scale” privatization, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk has said. “Centrenergo is in the top priority for privatization. And I want this company to be privatized by an external, real player. And the government will do everything for some kind of strong player to come here,” he said during the Kyiv International Economic Forum on Saturday.
He emphasized that the State Property Fund (SPF) is currently preparing the company for privatization.
“There is a manager there [in the State Property Fund] who does not depend on any oligarch,” Honcharuk emphasized.
Earlier, SPF Head Dmytro Sennychenko predicted the sale of Centrenergo in 2021.
Most of potential buyers of a 78.3% stake in Centrenergo have showed their interest in the coming tender sell the company, Partner of EY Business Advisory Poland, which acts as an advisor for the privatization of the company, Piotr Piela has said.
“I am very optimistic. We meet the schedule and have to finish by the end of the year,” he said in Odesa on Friday at the Ukrainian Financial Forum organized by the ICU investment group.
He named the expected growth in consumption and export opportunities among the positive sides.
At the same time, Piela said that there is no complete clarity on how the electricity market will work after July 1, 2019. He welcomed the adoption of primary legislation, indicating that secondary legislation is still in the state of approval and there are questions about how it will be implemented.
