The US has proposed a meeting between the national security advisors (NSA) of Ukraine, the US, and Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, expressing cautious optimism about the prospects for such a meeting.
“As for Umerov (Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, who is in the US, where he held talks with American and European partners on ending the war), he called me and said that America is now proposing a trilateral meeting of the NSA – America, Ukraine, Russia,” Zelensky said in comments to reporters on Saturday.
The president noted that he is not sure that this meeting will bring anything new, but pointed out that a similar meeting in Turkey resulted in the return of captured military personnel and civilians, so it is worth holding such meetings.
“I believe that this is not everything we wanted, but it is very important. I am very glad that we had exchanges. Our people, our military personnel, especially prisoners, have returned home. And civilians too. And that is why such steps must be taken. And if there can now be a meeting that will unblock the exchanges, or if the result of the trilateral NSA meeting could be an agreement on a trilateral meeting of leaders, and I have said this many times, there are complex issues that must be resolved by the leaders of the states. Therefore, if the results are exchanges or some other agreements, I cannot be against it, we will then support the proposal of the United States of America. Let’s see how it goes,” Zelensky said.
A number of companies have applied for tenders called by the State Property Fund (SPF) of Ukraine to select advisors for the privatization of insulin producer Indar, President Hotel and Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant with July 20 set as the deadline for applications, an informed source in the government has told Interfax-Ukraine. “There are applications, and there are many of them,” the source said without giving details.
The SPF’s press service told Interfax-Ukraine that it was not authorized to disclose details at the current stage, advising waiting for the results of the tenders. As was reported, the SPF late in June called tenders to hire advisers to sell 100% of Kyiv-based PJSC United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), 70.7016% of PrJSC Indar, 100% of PrJSC President Hotel (all three are based in Kyiv), and two wholly state-owned enterprises: Krasnolymanska Coal Mining Company in the town of Rodynske, Donetsk region, and Kharkiv-based Electrotyazhmash Plant (ETM), as well as 99.5667% of PJSC Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant (OPZ) in Odesa region.
The deadline for Indar, President Hotel and OPZ is July 20 inclusively. The first stages of the tenders are scheduled for July 26, and the second stages for July 30.
In case of UMCC and ETM, the deadline for applications is July 23, and tenders will be held in two stages: on July 27 and on July 31.
Ukraine on July 12 met with representatives from the ‘big four’ auditors, namely Ernst&Young, Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, as well as Morgan Stanley, Rothschild, ICU, Concorde Capital, Dragon Capital to present details of tenders to select advisers on large-scale privatization,.
The adviser’s tasks include an analysis of the economic, technical and financial performance of an enterprise; bringing the main indicators of its financial statements in line with international accounting standards; carrying out audits (financial, environmental and others), implementation of due diligence and a SWOT analysis of the assets, including assessment of the competitive positions in Ukraine and international markets.
