Ukraine's property fund: One in three state-run enterprises subject to liquidation

Head of the State Property Fund (SPF) of Ukraine Vitaly Trubarov says 1,255 out of 3,500 state-run enterprises in Ukraine are not operating and should be liquidated.

"We have analyzed the existing 3,500 state-owned enterprises. Unfortunately, 1,255 of them are asset-stripped companies that will be subject to liquidation. The state has done nothing for these enterprises, and we've lost them," he told a Ukrainian radio station on April 11.

Read alsoState Property Fund starts preparations for sale of 20 large SOEsAs UNIAN reported earlier, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed the bill on privatization of state property on January 18, 2018. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko enacted it into law in early March.

The main objective of the document is to facilitate the privatization process by simplifying the classification of facilities to be offered for sale, splitting them into small- and large-sized facilities subject to privatization.

The law also provides for adding more assets onto the privatization list, shortening the period of sale, providing the possibility of issuing a bank guarantee, and unifying the ways of selling state property.

The state budget for 2018 provides for UAH 21.3 billion ($819.9 million) in privatization proceeds. In 2017, revenue from the sale of state assets was projected at UAH 17.1 billion ($658.2 million), while actual revenue amounted to UAH 3.4 billion ($130.9 million). In total, the government plans to sell more than 900 state-owned companies.