Parliament has passed a final version of the law allowing the government to sell a stake of at least 25 percent in national phone monopoly Ukrtelekom and ordering it to retain a 50 percent stake plus 1 share in state ownership.
Telecoms Minister Oleh Shevchuk has said a buyer of the 25 percent stake in Ukrtelekom may be given another 25 percent stake in the company to manage.
Ukrtelekom may be sold only to an industrial investor with experience in the telecoms industry, the law reads. Offshore companies are not welcome in the tender, it said.
Some 60 percent of cash raised from the sale is to be channeled to the state budget. Another 30 percent and 10 percent of the funds will be used to upgrade Ukrtelekom and Defense Ministry’s telecoms infrastructure respectively.
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Utel long-distance phone provider will give Ukrtlecom an interest-free loan to buy out foreign stakes in the company, according to an Ukrtelekom official. Ukrtelekom will pay off the loan by March next year.
Ukrtelekom, which owns a 51 percent stake in Utel, has long been seeking funds to purchase western shares in the company, with some $80 million reportedly needed for the deal.
United StateS.’ AT&T and Deutsche Telekom each own 19.5 percent of the company, while Brokbiznesbank holds a 10 percent stake.
The government said it wants to become a sole owner of Utel to later merge the company with Ukrtelekom. The merger is expected to boost the privatization value of Ukrtelekom.
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Wimm-Bill-Dann, a major Russian juice and dairy products manufacturer, has bought a 60 percent stake in the Kyiv Dairy Plant No.3 for an undisclosed sum. Management of the plant, capable of processing 950 tons of milk a day, hopes Wimm-Bill-Dann’s marketing skills will help increase the factory’s sales. The plant has been negotiating the deal since 1997. Kyiv Dairy Plant No. 3 makes milk products, hard cheeses and meat-based cooking oil.
Wimm-Bill-Dann’s J7 juices and Chudo yogurts are among the company’s most widely recognized products.
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President Leonid Kuchma signed a decree on July 15 allowing the government to increase the size of stakes in seven regional electricity distributors, known as oblenergos, which were slated for sale later this year.
The decision increases the share packages on sale to 75 percent in Kyivoblenergo and Rivneoblenergo, 70 percent in Mykolaivoblenergo and Sevastopoloblenergo, 65 percent stake in Khersonpblenrgo, 62 percent in Zhytomyroblenergo and 51 percent in Khersonoblenergo.
The government earlier planned to retain a 25 percent stake in each company.
Credit Suisse First Boston investment bank is the government’s adviser on the sale.
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The government has raised its target for privatization revenues this year to Hr 3 billion from Hr 2.5 billion it planned to receive in privatization proceeds earlier. The government wants to use additional funds raised to pay off wage arrears.
The State Property Fund raised Hr 1.060 billion in the first six months of this year.
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Dutch-British oil and gas giant Shell considers signing Khatzysk Pipe Plant to supply pipes for the Transcaspian gas pipeline projected to link Turkey and Turkmenistan, the plant’s management announced.
The 2,000-kilometer-long pipeline will annually pump about 14 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas to Europe every year. The government plans to privatize Khartzysk Pipe Plant later this year.
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The SPF is intending to sell a 54 percent stake in the Rivneazot fertilizer producer in the second half of this year. The starting price for the stake has been set at Hr 45.8 million ($8.3 million). Rivne regional administration currently manages the stake.
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Nyzhnyodniprovsky Pipe Plant paid an undisclosed sum to beat five other bidders in a tender for a 50 percent plus 1 share stake in Dnipropetrovsk Railway Carriage Plant. The starting price for the stake was Hr 8.3 million.
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The SPF announced on July 12 a tender for a 33 percent stake in the Trypilla Biochemical Plant. Bids will be accepted till Aug.10.
The starting price for the stake is Hr 4.48 million. The government has already sold 67 percent of shares in Trypilla. Stirol Concern paid Hr 4 million last month for a 30 percent stake in the plant.
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The SPF has failed to sell a 16 percent stake in Donetsk Metallurgical Plant (DMP) via a regional stock exchange. No bidders applied. DMP has a charter capital of Hr 90.5 million, with one share priced at Hr 0.25. The plant made a loss of Hr 49 million last year.
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The SPF has announced it will sell a 13.94 percent stake in Luhansk Pharmaceutical Plant via a stock exchange in the second half of this year. The fund set the starting price for the stake at Hr 9.9 million. The remainder of the shares in the plant have already been sold.
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The SPF announced on July 12 a tender for an 86 percent stake in the Sumy oblast-based Romensk Telephone Station Plant. The fund asks Hr 2.8 million for the stake.
Strangely, the plant made a profit of Hr 18,000 last year, but suffered a loss of Hr 381,000 in the first three months this year.
