Fears that a series of non-transparent and rushed privatizations would be pushed through during elections have subsided
Fears that a series of nontransparent and rushed privatizations have subsided, as the outgoing governing coalition led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has backed away from controversial plans, essentially giving into demands made by President Viktor Yushchenko.
Ukraine’s State Property Fund (SPF) on Oct. 15 canceled a tender scheduled for this month for a controlling stake in the prized Odesa Portside Plant (OPP), Ukraine’s leading producer of nitrogen fertilizer and ammonia.
The sale of OPP is expected to fetch about $1 billion in a transparent tender, which would mark it as the second largest sell-off since Ukraine’s flagship steel mill, Kryvorizhstal, was acquired by Mittal Steel in 2005 for a whopping $4.8 billion.
The OPP sale was suspended after Yushchenko and analysts criticized the government’s plans to sell the plant during the politically tense parliamentary election of Sept. 30 and the subsequent coalition-building period.
The government has also postponed plans to yield a major stake in a potentially lucrative ore-enrichment factory to a Russian-Ukrainian group and suspended auctions for minority stakes in a handful of electricity distribution companies.
An earlier decision to grant Smart Group and Russia’s Metalloinvest exclusive rights to the Kryviy Rih Oxidized Ore Plant without a tender has been put on hold. Arcelor Mittal has repeatedly expressed its interest in this asset and questioned the transparency of the SPF’s decision to award it to Smart Group and Metalloinvest.
The government has also halted tenders scheduled this fall for minority stakes in regional electricity utilities, including Odesaoblenergo, Prykarpattyaoblenergo, Lvivoblenergo, Poltavaoblenergo, Sumyoblenergo, and Chernihivoblenergo.
Yushchenko and former opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, the leading candidate for prime minister after a strong showing in the Sept. 30 election, repeatedly urged the government to halt the suspect privatizations deals.
On Sept. 12, Yushchenko moved to halt the Odesa Portside sale with a presidential decree. Yanukovych’s outgoing government has since backed down, abiding by the president’s position on this and other privatization dealings.
The timeframe for resuming or reorganizing the sales remains uncertain, according to SPF spokesperson Nina Yavorska.
“Everything will depend on the formation of the [new] government and the political situation [in the country],” she said.
