The Cabinet of Ministers at its June 27, 2023 meeting approved a plan to transform the state-owned NNEGC Energoatom into a joint stock company with 100% of its shares owned by the state, the company reported in Telegram.
“This is another step in fulfilling Ukraine’s international obligations to bring the management of state-owned enterprises in line with the best international standards of corporate governance,” the NAEC commented.
According to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, during June-July 2023 a complete inventory of the property of the enterprise should be conducted and a company for an independent assessment of the property should be selected.
In November, the act of property assessment should be approved, drafts of government decisions on the approval of the transfer act of the property in the charter capital of the JSC should be prepared;
The issue of Energoatom shares is scheduled for December, while the process of transforming the state-owned enterprise into a JSC is expected to be completed by March 2024.
As reported with reference to Peter Kotin, president of Energoatom, NAEC expects to complete corporatization of the company, according to optimistic estimates, in six months, according to pessimistic estimates – in a year.
“There are a lot of processes going on right now and the main one is to conduct an inventory of all assets as well as to collect creditors’ appeals. This is not an easy procedure,” he said in mid-June.
At the same time, he specified that with regard to the Zaporizhzhia NPP occupied by the Russian invaders “we will use the preliminary, pre-war inventory data for now, and then (when the plant returns under the control of Ukraine – IF-U) we will adjust”.
At the beginning of May the Cabinet of Ministers started the procedure for reorganization of the state enterprise by means of its transformation into the National Atomic Energy Generating Company Energoatom JSC, 100% shares in the authorized capital of which belong to the state and are not subject to privatization or alienation by other means.
The Cabinet of Ministers also created a commission for Enerhoatom’s transformation and approved its composition, set a two-month deadline for lenders to file their claims against the company, and formed an inventory commission.
Before that, on March 17, 2023, President Vladimir Zelenski signed the law “On the peculiarities of formation of the joint stock company NAEK Energoatom.
“Energoatom” is the operator of all four operating NPPs in Ukraine. It operates Zaporizhzhya, Pivdenno-Ukrainian, Rivne and Khmelnitsky plants with 15 power units equipped with water-water power reactors, with a total installed electric capacity of 13.8 GW. The 6GW ZNPP has been under Russian occupation since May 4, 2022.
President of the state enterprise NNEGC Energoatom Petr Kotin said that the company is preparing for corporatization and that the Ukrainian government has already submitted the relevant draft law on the specifics of the formation of the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom to the Parliament.
As reported in the Energoatom Telegram channel, he informed the ambassadors of the G7 countries and other officials of foreign diplomatic missions about this during a meeting in Kyiv on Wednesday, August 24.
In addition, Kotin outlined plans for the development of Energoatom and the state of implementation of joint projects with the American company Westinghouse.
“We have put an end to any dependence on Russia, first of all, it concerns the rejection of its nuclear fuel, technologies, services and components. At the same time, we are strengthening cooperation with our long-term partner Westinghouse: we will purchase nuclear fuel for all Ukrainian nuclear power plants and build 9 new power units based on AP1000 technology,” he said.
As reported, in September 2021, Energoatom and Westinghouse signed a memorandum on the construction of five nuclear power units in Ukraine. At the beginning of June 2022, the companies signed agreements to increase the number of nuclear power units to be built using AP 1000 technology in Ukraine from five to nine units, and to establish the Westinghouse Engineering and Technology Center in the country.
Energoatom is the operator of all four operating nuclear power plants in Ukraine. Operates Zaporozhye, South-Ukrainian, Rivne and Khmelnytsky stations with 15 power units equipped with water-cooled power reactors, with a total installed electrical capacity of 13.8 GW.
Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry has decided to postpone corporatization of state-owned enterprise (SOE) Boryspil international airport, Director General Pavlo Riabikin said at a press conference at the airport on Thursday.
“There is no final government decision on the corporatization of the Boryspil airport, but at the level of the Infrastructure Ministry, during all consultations that lasted about six months, we decided to set aside the issue of corporatization and stay at the level of implementing corporate governance at the airport,” he said.
According to Riabikin, the issue of corporatization does not have a final decision today: the problem is that the main part of the property of the Boryspil airport belongs to the category of property that cannot be included the charter capital and cannot be privatized – this is, first of all, the entire airfield. If we compare the cost of these facilities with what can be transferred as part of the corporatization – the ratio is about three to one, the director of the airport said.
He said that, in theory, this can be solved by a separate law, as it was done with Ukrzaliznytsia, or by introducing elements of corporate governance, leaving now the status of SOE.
“Corporatization with such a large amount of property that does not enter the enterprise will necessitate the creation of two enterprises, one of which will manage the part of the property that cannot be privatized, the second – the terminals. And in the future, this may create problems, for example, attraction of loans from European financial institutions,” the director of the airport said.
At the same time, he said that the enterprise needs such a body as a supervisory board.
On May 22, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the composition of the supervisory board of the Boryspil airport, consisting of three independent members and two state representatives.
The Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority of Ukraine counts on the successful completion of the corporatization process by the end of 2019 if it is included in the list of strategic companies that can be corporatized before the end of 2018, head of the agency Raivis Veckagans has told Interfax-Ukraine.
“We hope that by the end of the year, the Cabinet of Ministers will decide to include us in the list of strategic companies that can be corporatized. And in this case, we aim to complete corporatization in a year, because we need to change the legislative framework,” he said.
According to Veckagans, the corporatization of the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority will mean, first of all, a greater transparency of the structure for the market, as well as acceleration of administrative processes within the company.
“It is important for us after the completion of corporatization and the creation of the supervisory council to have the opportunity to manage the assets held on the balance sheet of the company and use them effectively to attract cargo traffic, that is, income,” he stated.
