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
Within the framework of large and small privatization for May-June 2021, more than 100 auctions are planned in Ukraine, said Deputy Head of the President’s Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
“At the end of April this year, President Volodymyr Zelensky unlocked large privatization in Ukraine. This is without exaggeration a historic event. Firstly, it will give new life to unprofitable property, and secondly, it will attract billions of dollars in investments. It’s time to turn unprofitable ballast into profit for the Ukrainian budget,” he wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
Tymoshenko said that privatization is now a separate topic of conference calls in the President’s Office.
The next meeting was held on Monday, May 17, with the participation of representatives of the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) and regional state administrations.
“The key thing in our joint work is that large and small privatization in Ukraine is transparent. For the first time in the history of Ukraine, there is a political will for this. The process is already irreversible,” the deputy head of the President’s Office wrote.
He recalled that in 2020 the SPF planned to receive UAH 400 million from privatization. Despite the quarantine, the real income was several times higher – UAH 2.5 billion.
Tymoshenko is convinced that large and small privatization in 2021 opens the way for even larger investments.
At the same time, according to him, the competition is growing. In April 2020, the average number of participants in the auction was 3.67, in April 2021 it was already 4.57.
The Verkhovna Rada has passed at the final reading government’s bill No. 4543 on unlocking the large-scale privatization process.
An Interfax-Ukraine correspondent has reported that 257 MPs backed the bill with the required 226 votes.
As reported, large-scale privatization was suspended due to the entry into force of Law No. 540-IX dated March 30, 2020, which, in connection with the quarantine, imposed restrictions on the privatization of large facilities – both preparation for sale and holding the auctions. Bill No. 4543 removes this provision.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has announced an investigation into the lawfulness of privatization of strategic enterprises and subsoil deposits in the country by individuals.
“Those, who believed that a controlling stake in strategic defense enterprises, in particular Motor Sich, may end up with not the state, but in private hands, and land and subsoil deposits that belong to the people of Ukraine may also be seized, should also receive a fair and legitimate reaction from Ukraine. How did this happen? Again it is a rhetorical question. But the answers will be found by law enforcement agencies, together with the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources,” Zelensky said in a video message posted on his Facebook page on Friday evening.
“Citizens should know: how and on what conditions a number of people in Ukraine received certain resources. Those who did it legally have nothing to fear. And to establish this, a most detailed audit will be carried out, the results of which will be presented to society. I am sure that these answers should not be rhetorical, but concrete, exhaustive and well-reasoned – both for citizens and for possible future court cases,” the head of the Ukrainian state said.
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.
The Cabinet of Ministers has raised the requirements for operators of privatization auctions, in particular, an operator must have at least six employees, a charter capital of at least UAH 1 million and its own call center for selection.
According to the draft regulation, the auction operator must also have an excellent business reputation with regard to the law on prevention and counteraction of legalization (laundering) of proceeds.
In addition, the requirement presupposes having at least a year of experience in the market for the sale of property in the form of auctions and cryptographic protection for a secure connection between the server and bidders.
As indicated in the draft regulation, the charge rate for participation in the privatization auction for an object worth more than UAH 64 million is set at 1% (previously it was set for objects worth over UAH 250 million), from UAH 4 million to UAH 64 million it is 2.5% (previously the charge rate of 2.4% was set for objects from UAH 1 million to UAH 4 million), and up to UAH 4 million it is 4% (previously the maximum charge was 3% for objects up to UAH 1 million).
