The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) has called on the National Agrarian Academy of Sciences (NAAS) to be transparent and engage in dialogue and insists on providing information on 1736 land plots with a total area of 135,000 hectares and their actual use for scientific purposes, the agency reported on Facebook.
“There is no “seizure” of land. We are talking only about the transfer of part of the land that is not used or is used inefficiently to the state enterprise “Reserve” for transparent management. These lands are not being sold, privatized or withdrawn from state ownership,” the SPF emphasized.
At the same time, the Fund reminded that the State Enterprise “Reserve” is the second operator of the Land Bank project, which was created to effectively transfer state land for use on a competitive basis through the Prozorro.Sale system. Its creation is envisaged by the state strategy, as the State Land Bank LLC cannot obtain such land for permanent use – according to the law, only a state-owned enterprise can do so. In the future, the State Enterprise “Reserve” will be merged with similar structures into a single state land bank.
The SPF noted that they do not intend to withdraw land plots from the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences that are actually used for field research, breeding, livestock production or training. It is also not about land plots owned by educational institutions, but only about land used by the National Academy of Sciences, but without confirmation of their scientific purpose.
The SPF emphasized that productivity does not mean hectares, but results, and cited as an example the UAH 3.4 billion received by the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences in 2024 from 276 thousand hectares of land used by the academy.
“This is several times lower than the indicators of an efficient private sector. At the same time, most of the profits are generated not through science, but through commercial farming, which sometimes has nothing to do with research,” the State Property Fund emphasized.
He reminded that land is a national resource and it should work in the interests of the state, especially in times of war when the budget needs financial revenues.
“We cannot afford to keep thousands of hectares for ‘scientific needs’ that are not supported by objective activity,” the SPF emphasized and called on the National Academy of Sciences to be transparent and engage in dialogue.
The SPF analyzed the NAAS lands and identified 1736 plots with a total area of 135 thousand hectares for transfer to the Land Bank. Another 69 thousand hectares have real estate or are unsuitable for investment. This data was submitted to the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences in May 2024 for clarification. However, in 10 months, only one response was received from the NAAS – on the transfer of 65 thousand hectares, of which 50 thousand hectares are under occupation, and 7 thousand hectares are actually suitable.
Due to the NAAS’s refusal to cooperate constructively, the SPF decided to include all plots without real estate in the Land Bank project to stop the shadow use of land that does not benefit the state. The NAAS should provide a clear and reasoned list of enterprises and plots that they really need. The Foundation called the NAAS’s opposition an attempt to maintain control over abandoned assets under the slogan “science and development.”
“Our goal is to make state land a source of budget revenues, job creation, support for the army and reforms. We are building a new institution for managing Ukraine’s strategic resources – orderly, accountable and open,” the SPF summarized and called on the National Academy of Sciences to share this state approach.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) announced an auction on 6 August to privatize a 97.5458% stake in the authorized capital of Zaporizhzhya Aluminium Smelter (ZalK). According to the SPF press release, an online auction for the privatization of 607 million 446,012 thousand shares is scheduled for August 6. The auction will be held in the electronic trading system Prozorro.Sale with a starting price of almost UAH 151.9 million, and the deadline for submitting bids is August 5.
It is noted that ZALK is an excellent brownfield project, as it is located in Zaporizhzhia, next to the national highway H08. The facility’s advantages include a large total area of premises and land. The new owner may consider the facility for business or its relocation.
The JSC’s balance sheet includes 1497 registered units of real estate and infrastructure with a total area of 370,929.85 square meters. The property also includes 291 units of vehicles and special equipment. The real estate owned by the JSC is located on 25 registered land plots with a total area of 216.0856 hectares.
As of May 31, 2023, part of the company’s real estate with a total area of 6,755.6 sq. m. was leased out under eight agreements with the maximum term of validity until September 1, 2065.
The company’s balance sheet includes 18 state-owned objects that were not included in the company’s authorized capital and remained in state ownership (two shelters, instruments, radio stations, engineering networks, roads, etc.)
The company has debts, including overdue accounts payable of UAH 6.44 billion.
Under the terms of the auction, the new owner is obliged to ensure repayment of wage arrears and budget arrears within 18 months from the date of transfer of ownership, as well as to prevent dismissal of ZalK employees within six months, in accordance with the requirements of Articles 40 and 41 of the Labor Code of Ukraine.
For more information about ZALK JSC, please follow the link: http://surl.li/oyxgsp
Zalc used to be the only primary aluminum producer in Ukraine. In 2004, the Russian group SUAL became the owner of Zalc. In 2007, the plant came under the control of UC RusAl, which was created as a result of the merger of aluminum and alumina assets of RusAl, SUAL and Swiss trader Glencore. In the long-running lawsuits, a verdict was reached on the termination of the sale and purchase agreements for 68.01% of ZalK’s shares and the return of this stake to state ownership. The authorized capital of ZALK JSC is UAH 155 million 682.28 thousand, with a share price of UAH 0.25.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) has put up for sale the unified property complex of the state-owned enterprise Nepolokovets Bakery (Chernivtsi region) with a starting price of UAH 217.4 million, said Vitaliy Koval, the Fund’s chairman.
“This is an operating enterprise for the production of flour and cereal products with a strong production base and significant development potential,” he wrote on Telegram.
The complex is located in the village of Nepolokivtsi, 27 km from Chernivtsi. It consists of production, warehouse, administrative and auxiliary buildings with an area of about 42 thousand square meters, as well as 24 vehicles and special equipment, more than 1200 pieces of equipment and other assets.
Among the advantages of the facility, the SPF chairman named the ready-made infrastructure, which allows to immediately start operations and increase volumes, a favorable location near the EU border and guaranteed demand for products.
The auction will take place on June 24 in the electronic trading system Prozorro.Sale.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) is finalizing the list of large-scale privatization objects to be agreed with the Cabinet of Ministers and submitted to the auction commission, said Vitaliy Koval, head of the agency.
“Large-scale privatization is when an asset is worth more than UAH 200-250 million at its book value or starting price. Today, the official list has been approved, all large-scale privatization objects must go through the procedure of approval by the Cabinet of Ministers, be included in the list and transferred to the auction commission under the regulation of the minister, who will approve the data on the auction conditions,” he said at the Business Breakfast with Forbes Ukraine on Wednesday.
Koval named 66.65% of the Ocean Plaza shopping mall (Kyiv), which will be put up for privatization at a starting price of UAH 1.63 billion, and one of the pre-war leaders in the aerated concrete market, AEROC Investment Deutschland GmbH, with three production sites at a price of about UAH 1 billion, as the most valuable assets included in the list of large-scale privatization. Among the state-owned assets, the Ukraina Hotel (Kyiv) will be put up for privatization at a price of UAH 1.8 billion.
In addition, the assets of the United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), which has been given control of the Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (VGMK, Dnipro region) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (IGOK, Zhytomyr region), will be auctioned at a starting price of UAH 3.7-3.9 billion.
“We have a task from the Ministry of Finance – UAH 4 billion (to replenish the state budget in 2024 – IF-U). But I am confident that we will exceed it. The ambitious price is much higher,” said the SPF head.
Speaking about the target audience that the SPF is interested in transferring privatization objects into ownership, Koval said that the Fund manages a variety of assets: from a small shop, hair salon, service center and tailoring studio to large objects such as the UMCC. Accordingly, the target audience is very diverse – from individuals to corporations.
“A very cool client for us is someone who comes for the second, third, or fourth time. In addition, when it comes to international business, international groups that already have business in Ukraine, understand the country’s agenda, and are familiar with the context and feel the microclimate are of the greatest interest. Such clients are very important to us. As well as domestic investors who have small and medium-sized businesses – they are needed,” summarized the head of the SPF.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) has put up for privatization the Shabalynivka distillery in Chernihiv region.
“This facility is a promising brownfield waiting for an investor to restore it. The privatization of the plant opens up opportunities for the development of an industrial site with existing infrastructure,” said Vitaliy Koval, head of the SPF, on Telegram.
According to the report, the plant is located in the village of Ivanivka, Nizhyn district, near the lake and the M-02 and T-2523 highways.
The single property complex includes 51 real estate objects (12,312 thousand square meters), two land plots with an area of 56.46 hectares, three cars and 250 movable property items (equipment, furniture, etc.).
The new owner is obliged to pay off the company’s existing wage arrears of UAH 552 thousand and UAH 21.17 million to the budget. The terms of the sale include the preservation of jobs for six months.
The starting price of the lot is UAH 959.1 thousand (excluding VAT).
The online auction will take place on May 16 in the Prozorro.Sale system. Bids will be accepted until May 15 inclusive.
“The privatization of Shabalynivka Distillery is a chance for investors to realize their business ideas on the basis of existing production facilities and infrastructure. The new owner will be able to diversify its activities and create added value,” said the SPF chairman.
According to the Fund, distilleries are one of the most popular small-scale privatization assets. Since September 2022, the SPF has sold 14 distilleries and raised UAH 965 million to the state budget, with the average price of each object at auction tripling.
The SPF planned to fully complete the privatization of the alcohol industry in 2023, for which it was planned to hold online auctions for the sale of 26 distilleries across the country. However, a number of them did not take place.
Japanese partners have confirmed their interest in projects to support Ukraine’s agricultural sector and train veterans, and the respective teams of the two countries are working together to find ways to implement these intentions, said Vitaliy Koval, chairman of the State Property Fund, following the visit of a Ukrainian delegation led by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to the Conference on Economic Development and Reconstruction in Tokyo.
According to a release from the Fund, its head spoke about the key areas of the agency’s work, investment proposals for Japanese business, and new projects of the SPFU team – work with sanctioned property and the Land Bank, which is scheduled to be launched at the end of this year.
Regarding the latter project, the head of the Fund had a separate meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, as the SPFU manages 386 thousand hectares of agricultural land, which should work for the Ukrainian economy and bring profit to the state budget.
According to Koval, the meeting discussed attracting Japanese investors to the Ukrainian agricultural sector, in particular, the use of their equipment, as the need of Ukrainian farmers for mechanized machinery with a capacity of up to 200 hp is very high, and the world leaders in the production of such equipment are concentrated in Japan.
“Ukragroleasing can become their partner here. The company is managed by the SPFU and can help with leasing equipment,” said the head of the Fund.
He also called on foreign partners to pay attention to one of the most important areas of work for the whole country – retraining and training of veterans, which is the management and maintenance of agricultural machinery.
Koval said that the State Property Fund has the capabilities to assist in training: it can be conducted at the SPFU’s training centers, and such facilities will become training centers for operators and service engineers for Japanese agricultural machinery.
As reported, during the visit, the Ukrainian delegation signed 56 documents related to cooperation in many sectors of the economy of the two countries.
