The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) is ready to resume large-scale privatization in Ukraine despite the war, but first wants to analyze their condition, Rustem Umerov, newly appointed head of the Fund, said.
“So far, we want to preliminarily analyze the situation at the enterprises. After that, we plan to discuss with the government which of them we can now put up for sale,” he said in an interview with Forbes Ukraine, which was published on Tuesday.
Among the enterprises that could be put up for large-scale privatization, the head of the State Property Fund named the Odessa Portside Plant, the United Mining and Chemical Company (OGCC) and the Zaporozhye Titanium and Magnesium Combine (ZTMK), adding that he also intends to wait for the resumption of their work.
Answering a question about the revision of privatization in previous years, the new head of the State Property Fund said that he was not in favor of such an approach. “We must move on without looking back at the past,” he said.
Umerov added that an analysis of about 800 enterprises that the Fund recently received by government decision is also being carried out.
According to him, the presence among them located in the temporarily occupied territories is explained by the fact that one of the functions of the State Property Fund will be to assess the losses of Ukraine from the occupation, including the loss of these enterprises. “After the assessment, we will file lawsuits in international courts demanding compensation for the damage,” the head of the department said.
He also confirmed that the government is discussing the idea of transferring the arrested assets belonging to the Russians to the Fund. “After analyzing their financial situation, we will put them up for privatization. We will transfer the proceeds to the government, which will send them to the country’s defense,” Umerov explained the idea.
Among other initiatives, he named an inventory of all leased areas, discussion of the possibility of creating a land bank together with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, as well as work on the creation of a real estate agency – Real Estate Investment Trust.
Umerov also recalled plans to create a Sovereign Fund, to which enterprises of strategically important sectors for the state will be transferred: energy and critical transport infrastructure, as well as enterprises with a unique market position and licenses for the extraction of natural resources.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the Government of Ukraine decided to transfer more than 800 enterprises with assets worth UAH 45 billion to the State Property Fund, First Deputy Economy Minister Denis Kudin said.
“This is the largest transfer of enterprises in the term of this government. In fact, now only assets in the field of energy, infrastructure, defense industry, culture and standardization and metrology remain subordinate to the ministries,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to available information, in this list, in particular, “Artyomsol”, “Konyarstvo of Ukraine”, NSC “Olympic”, “Odessa Film Studio”, coal enterprises.
Kudin clarified that so far the Fund has not been transferred to enterprises in respect of which restructuring or transformation to another organizational form is underway: for example, from a state enterprise to a state institution or state organization, or companies in a state of liquidation, or perform service functions.
“The next step is for the State Property Fund. We expect that by mid-November the Fund will be able to actually start working as a management body for these and other enterprises, regarding which the decision to transfer was made earlier,” said the first deputy head of the Ministry of Economy, who was previously responsible for managing state assets in the Fund .
Kudin recalled that the goal of the reform is to reduce the size of the state in the economy and stimulate private entrepreneurial initiative. According to him, the Fund will make a decision on privatization of some enterprises, while others will be consolidated into asset management holdings and will bring dividends to the budget.
The State Property Fund (SPF) of Ukraine would like to become a single manager of all state property in the country, while it is currently distributed among 96 different state departments, Rustem Umerov, appointed this week as its head, said.
Speaking at the Rebuilding Ukraine forum organized by UkraineInvest on Thursday, he expressed the opinion that such centralization would improve the efficiency of state property management.
The new head of the SPF, Rustem Umerov, appointed by the Rada in early September, previously announced plans to create a Sovereign Fund, which would unite the main state enterprises, as well as the intention to make the SPF the sole manager of all state property in the country, while currently it is distributed between 96 different government departments.
The Verkhovna Rada has appointed People’s Deputy Rustem Umerov to the post of head of the State Property Fund (SPF).
The adoption of the relevant draft resolution No. 8005 was generally supported by 282 people’s deputies at the plenary session on Wednesday, Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a member of the Holos faction, said on his telegram channel.
“The parliament appointed our colleague from Golos Rustem Umerov as head of the State Property Fund. For – 282 (votes – IF). Against – 0,” he wrote.
As the parliamentarian noted, the voting results for Umerov’s candidacy were distributed by factions as follows: Servant of the People – 198 votes, European Solidarity – 2 votes, Batkivshchyna – 1 vote, Platform for Life and Peace group – 17, “For the Future” – 9, “Voice” – 13, “Dovira” – 16, the group “Vydnovlennia Ukrainy” – 14 and non-factional deputies cast 12 votes.
As reported, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Economic Policy on September 7 supported Umerov’s candidacy for the post of head of the State Property Fund.
Umerov is a Ukrainian politician, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist, a member of the Ukrainian delegation at the negotiations with Russia, a delegate of the Kurultai of the Crimean Tatar people.
In 2019, he was elected a people’s deputy of the 9th convocation from the “Voice” party (number 18 on the list as a non-partisan) and became a member of the faction of the same name.
In the Ukrainian parliament, he served as secretary of the committee on human rights, de-occupation and reintegration of temporarily occupied territories, national minorities, and was also a deputy member of the Permanent Delegation to the Council of Europe and co-chairman of the parliamentary inter-factional association “Crimean Platform”.
In September 2020, Umerov joined the group for the development of the state strategy for the de-occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC).
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) put 10 distilleries up for an online auction on the Prozorro.Sale platform in November.
According to the post of Head of the State Property Fund Dmytro Sennychenko on Facebook on Monday, the initial sale prices for lots are from UAH 8 million to UAH 54 million.
“In October, in just half a month, we have got an excellent takeoff. Six objects of the state-owned enterprise Ukrspyrt have already found new owners at privatization auctions and brought more than UAH 268 million to the state budget. The price that is formed by the market and which sometimes swells two or three times, this is the main characteristic that now unites alcohol privatization,” he wrote.
As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on December 11, 2019 signed a law on abolishing the state monopoly on alcohol production from July 1, 2020, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on December 3, 2019.
The debut auction for the privatization of the first object of the state-owned enterprise Ukrspyrt Nemyriv distillery (Vinnytsia region) was held on October 15. The plant was sold to LVN Limited LLC, shareholders of Nemiroff, for UAH 55.08 million, which is UAH 5 million higher than the starting price. The winning company was the only one to apply to participate in the auction.
On the whole, starting from October 15, six Ukrspyrt’s plants have been successfully privatized at online auctions. Two auctions did not take place. As for distilleries, they will be put up for re-bidding with a reduction in the starting price.
The SPF expects to attract about UAH 2 billion from the privatization of distilleries of the state-owned enterprise Ukrspyrt and the concern Ukrspyrt.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) has announced the holding of auctions for the privatization of the Marylivsky and Kozliv distilleries and the storage of alcohol belonged to the state-owned enterprise Ukrspyrt (both in Ternopil region).
According to a statement on the SPF website, the privatization auction of the Marylivsky distillery will take place on November 12, 2020.
The starting price of the facility is UAH 54.7 million.
The auction for the privatization of the Kozliv distillery will take place on November 13, 2020.
The starting price of the facility is UAH 37.6 million.
The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) has put up for sale 210 lots of small-scale privatization worth over UAH 113 million, Acting Chairman of the SPF Vitaliy Trubarov said on Facebook. The majority of the companies subject to privatization are situated in Vinnytsia, Poltava, and Lviv regions, while the most expensive lots are in Zaporizhia regions, according to Trubarov’s post. “A potential buyer has 30 to 35 days since the date of the offer for sale to submit documents, make a guarantee deposit, check the facility, its technical and financial reports,” he said.
Some 200 small-scale privatization auctions are scheduled for September. As reported, small-scale privatization involves the sale of state-owned or municipal property, the value of which does not exceed UAH 250 million. The SPF has fully completed including 716 facilities subject to small-scale privatization in 2018 in the ProZorro.Sale base.
