Groysman comments on failed OPP privatization attempt

Wednesday, July 20, 2016 - 14:20 (EEST) Section: Latest news

The delay in the sale of the Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant (OPP), one of the country`s largest chemical factories, will not alter the government`s plans to sell state-owned assets, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said.
”I would like to comment on the situation regarding the privatization of OPP,” Groysman wrote on Facebook.
”As it is known, there were no bids from potential buyers at the given price within the stipulated timeframe. This does not mean we will abandon our plans for the privatization of state-owned enterprises,” the prime minister wrote. ”I have repeatedly expressed my position on this issue. We have nearly 3,500 SOEs, while the European countries have some 300 each.”
Groysman added that ”hundreds of these enterprises are being managed inefficiently, resulting in corruption and siphoning of public funds.”
”Therefore, we will be putting up some enterprises for transparent privatization, and those in which we partly retain public ownership, we will improve the quality of management,” the prime minister stated.
Groysman also referred to the opposition faced by the government to these processes from those who were ”accustomed to feed at the expense of state property.”
”But we will not turn back from the chosen path. We will analyze our first attempt to put OPP for open bidding and announce a new auction, for which we will prepare better,” the head of government said.
As UNIAN reported in mid-May 2016, the Ukrainian government approved terms of privatization of a 99.6% stake in OPP with a starting offer of UAH13.175 billion.
The tender was scheduled for July 26, 2016. Norway`sYaraNorge; US-based IBE TradeCorp.; KochFertilizer, LLC and CF IndustriesHoldings, Inc.; andPoland`s Ciech S.A. were named among the potential buyers for the plant.
However, on July 18, the auction was put on hold after no bids from investors were received. The State Property Fund subsequently announced its intention to prepare a new tender and said it would consider the possibility of lowering the initial price of the asset.
UNIAN memo. Odesa Port-Side Plant, which is located in the town of Yuzhny in Odesa, is Ukraine`s second-largest ammonia and carbamide producer and the third-largest manufacturer of nitrogen fertilizers.
The company also handles shipments of chemical products arriving from CIS countries and exports. The company holds a monopoly in the national market of specialized services for acceptance, cooling and transshipment of ammonia.