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Eastern Europe
August 10, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 17
Ukraine selects advisers for first six companies to go on the block this year
Ben Aris in Berlin
Ukraine has hired advisors to help sell the first six companies on the privatisation list this autumn, the State Property Fund reported on August 3. Ukraine’s privatisation programme has been gathering some momentum but Kyiv has strug- gled to sell the star companies that could bring in billions of dollars.
The advisors have been hired ahead of the lat- est push to get the programme moving again. The head of Ukraine's State Property Fund (SPF) Vitaliy Trubarov plans to sell 22 large companies, according to a post published on his Facebook page on June 11.
Earlier the cabinet produced a list of 23 companies, but the Zaporizhia Titanium Plant has been exclud- ed for the meantime and will be sold by a simplified procedure (according to the old law on privatisa- tion). The amended list includes five power supply companies, Centrenergo, Odesa Port Plant (OPP), Turboatom, Zaporizhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine, United Mining-Chemical Company and Sumykhimprom, amongst other names.
The nominating commission selected advisors last week for the privatisation of the first six as- sets that should be sold under the privatisation law adopted in January.
A company related to Concorde Capital was se- lected as an adviser for Kyiv-based President Ho- tel, pharmaceutical company Indar and coal mine Krasnolymanska.
Ukraine has hired advisors to help sell the first six companies on the privatisation list this autumn
A company related to BDO was selected as ad- viser to sell titanium ore producer United Min- ing-Chemical Company, KPMG was selected as adviser for power generator manufacturer Ele- ktrovazhmash and Pericles Global Advisory was selected for the fertiliser producer Odesa Portside Plant (Odessa Port Plant (OPP). The sale of all the mentioned companies are supposed to be com- pleted by the end of 2018.
The fund also announced tenders to select priva- tisation advisers for another group of companies, including petrochemical asset Oriana, chemical plant Sumykhimprom, financial company Ukrag- roleasing, machinery asset Azovmash and four small heat and power stations.
Investors will be watching the attempt to sell OPP closely, as previous attempts have failed twice already because of the company’s accumulated debts to oligarchs and the threat of legal action as the original sale of the plant has been disputed. The government tried to sell the plant last year, but cancelled the auction in September 2017 with in- tent of putting it back on sale in the spring of 2018.
The new law on privatisation stipulates that large state assets (controlling stakes in companies with over UAH0.25bn in book value of assets) should be privatised involving financial advisers. In June, the fund initiated the privatisation of 22 large assets under the new law.
“It’s positive to see the fund is moving forward