EU Commissioner: European companies need to know Ukraine's privatization policy well

European Commissioner for Single Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Elżbieta Bieńkowska says European companies should be familiarized with the privatization policy of Ukraine, which plans a large-scale sale of state assets.

Read alsoUkraine's new law on privatization comes into force March 7"The First Deputy Prime Minister [of Ukraine, Stepan Kubiv] mentioned Ukraine's privatization plans and it is extremely important for European companies to be familiar with all issues of privatization policy," she said at a joint press conference with Kubiv in Kyiv on March 27.

"We are talking about a large segment of the privatization program. We are talking about the law [on privatization] adopted by the Verkhovna Rada and signed by the president, as well as about quick actions on new privatization," Kubiv said in turn.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 7, the new law on privatization came into force, which should significantly simplify the sale of state enterprises and which bars Russia from buying Ukrainian state assets.

According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, the law will help to attract investors to unprofitable state-run enterprises, as well as reduce corruption.

The adoption of a new law on privatization and the introduction of modern and effective mechanisms for the sale of state assets are prerequisites for further cooperation with the International Monetary Fund.

The state budget for 2018 provides for UAH 21.3 billion (US$809.6 million) in privatization proceeds. In 2017, gains from the sale of state assets were planned at UAH 17.1 billion ($650 million), while actual revenue amounted to a mere UAH 3.4 billion ($129.2 million).