The State Property Fund announced that it intends to restructure 10 state enterprises to make them more attractive to buyers.
On the list are the Bolshevik factory (Kyiv), Dniprometrobud (Dnipropetrovsk), Nizhynsilmash (Chernihiv region), Avtokoliorit (Zaporizhya region), the Bila Tserkva technical rubber factory, the Kharkiv tractor engine factory, the Nadvyrniansk sawmill (Ivano-Frankivsk), the Serp i Molot engine factory (Kharkiv), Umanfermmash (Cherkasy region), and Petrovsky automation factory (Kyiv).
The SPF’s Viktor Putynsky said that the SPF will close unprofitable units of the businesses and improve their financial performance before putting them on the block next year.
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The SPF has asked the Cabinet of Ministers to retain state ownership of a stake of 50 percent plus one share in the Crimean soda factory, Ukraine’s largest producer and exporter of soda ash.
The SPF made the decision after failing to sell an 87.47 percent stake in the factory for Hr 161 million last year. Only the United States’ General Chemicals Group bid for the stake.
Tender Announcements
The SPF announced plans to sell interests in several enterprises through competitive tenders by year end:
l A 96.67 percent stake in the Nikopol-based Pivdennotrubny pipe plant, which produces pipe from carbon alloys, stainless steel and titanium alloys. The factory holds a 49.9 percent stake in a joint venture it created with investors last year;
l A 60.86 percent stake in the Makiyivka metallurgical plant. Lessees hold the remaining 37.95 percent of the shares. The Donetsk-based Danko company supplies raw material and electricity to the plant and markets the plant’s products;
l A 25.16 percent stake in the Chasoviarsk refractory plant. The plant is the second largest producer of refractory materials in Ukraine. Industrial Investments holds 10 percent of the shares and the Inter-Regional Stock Union is the nominal holder of a 21.86 percent stake;
l A 99.5 percent stake in the Debaltsevsk metallurgical machine plant, which produces machines for blast furnaces, open-hearth furnaces, steel rolling mills, cranes, and facilities for smelting steel and pig iron. The plant’s employees hold an 0.46 percent stake. The SPF offered a 49.54 percent stake in the plant for sale last year, but received no bids.
l A 25.17 percent stake in the Dniproazot chemical plant. Government data shows that three corporations based in Cyrus are the company’s principal shareholders: Varkedge Limited has 18.9 percent of the shares; Ulrich Limited holds a 18.9 percent stake; and Occidental Management Company Ltd. has 14.26 percent of the shares;
l A 65.41 percent stake in the Lviv bus factory. The SPF received no bids for the stake when it was offered last year. The remaining shares in the factory have already been sold;
l A 25 percent plus one share stake in the Baltsem company. Baltsem, based in Balakleya, Kharkiv oblast, manufactures construction materials and cement. The SPF has already sold 75 percent of the factory’s shares: 40.41 percent at auction, 18.66 percent to the factory’s employees and 15.93 percent on the stock exchange; and
l A 76 percent stake in the Luhanskteplovoz holding company. The nominal value of the stake is Hr 41.6 million. Luhanskteplovoz specializes in the production of diesel locomotives, tram cars, and mining equipment for export to Estonia, Germany and Iran.
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The State Property Fund has re-offered 24.98 percent of the Energomashspetsstal metallurgical plant for sale in a competition, according to Pryvatizatsiyna Gazeta. The starting price of the stake is Hr 9,826,900.
The buyer will be required to pay outstanding debts totaling Hr 5,217,000, including Hr 3,843,000 to the state budget, Hr 747,000 to the Pension Fund, and Hr 627,000 in wage arrears within six months of signing an agreement for purchase of the stake.
The stake failed to attract bidders when it was offered last year.
Data from the State Committee for Securities and the Stock Market shows that Court Holdings and the International Stock Union each hold 14.68 percent stakes in Energomashspetsstal. The Vizavi company holds 10.29 percent.
