KYIV, Apr. 17 (AP) – The U.S. company AES Washington Holdings B.V. on Tuesday won two tenders to buy controlling stakes in state-run regional utility companies in Ukraine, officials said.
The company’s winning bid for the 75 percent-plus-one-share in the regional energy supplier in Kyiv, Kyivenergo, was 248.686 million hryvna (about $45.88 million), the State Property Fund said.
It competed against the French company EdF International S.A. and the Spanish Union Fenosa International, which withdrew from the tender at the last stage.
Washington Holdings also submitted the single bid of 125.677 million hryvna (some $23.18 million) for the 75 percent plus one share stake in the Rivne region utility. But the utility’s final value will be determined following an expert analysis since the U.S. company was the only one bidding, said State Property Fund head Oleksandr Bondar.
The Slovak company Vychodoslovenske Energeticke Zavody S.P. won a 75.56 stake in the Zhytomyr regional utility.
In an April 24 tender, Ukraine’s government also plans to sell share packages ranging from 61 percent to 75 percent in utilities in the Sevastopol, Kherson and Kirovohrad areas.
Bondar has said the government would regard a price of $250 million for seven regional utilities slated for privatization as a good outcome. The regional distributors are seen as attractive properties as each holds a monopoly or near-monopoly on electricity supplies in its area.
The government has been slow to reform Ukraine’s inefficient utility sector despite the urging of International Monetary Fund and other international lenders. Reformist Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko has pushed to speed up privatization efforts since coming to power in 1999.
