The starting price of 99.6% of the stake in the Odesa Port-Side Chemical Plant (OPP), the country`s major chemicals producer, may drop to $300 million before a new auction is held in late October, the press service of the State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPFU) reported, quoting SPFU head Ihor Bilous.
The July 18 auction of the state`s stake in OPP, with a starting price of UAH 13.175 billion (some $520 million), was put on hold after no bids were received from investors, as it was believed that the price of the asset was overstated.
”We plan to hold a new auction in late October … According to experts` estimates, the plant is worth $500 million, taking into account the debt [owed to Ostchem company, controlled by Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash]. When the debt is subtracted, only $300 million is left,” the press service quoted Bilous as saying.
Discussions to determine a new starting price for OPP are ongoing, according to Bilous.
”We certainly want to sell OPP at as high a price as possible. Our task involves creating conditions to encourage competition during the auction and, in this way, raise the price,” Bilous added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine supported the changes in the evaluation methods, which had been proposed by the State Property Fund, allowing the reduction of the OPP starting price.
In turn, the State Property Fund is considering cutting in half the starting price of the plant, initially set at UAH 13.175 billion.
UNIAN memo. OPP, 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 the acceptance, cooling and transshipment of ammonia.
