REUTERS
Sayenko believes that holding a competition for the sale of the company under the new law on privatization will engage foreign investors.
Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Oleksandr Sayenko, says that, despite the cancellation of the tender for the sale of a state stake in Public Joint-Stock Company (PJSC) Ukraine's major power generating company Centrenergo, which was earlier scheduled for December 13, the Cabinet's plans to sell the company have not changed.
"Despite the delay in the tender for the sale of the state-owned Centrenergo, the plans of the government have not changed. The enterprise will be sold. But we realize that the State Property Fund and an adviser on the sale need to do more thorough preparations for the sale. The government is counting on real competition at the auction, and we want to see serious foreign companies among its participants," the government's press service quoted the minister as saying on December 12.
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Sayenko believes that holding a competition for the sale of the company under the new law on privatization will engage foreign investors.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the tender for the sale of a state 78.3% stake in Centrenergo was set to start at 11:00 on December 13.
However, on December 11, it became known that the tender was canceled, since none of the two applicants had been admitted to bidding.
UNIAN memo. PJSC Centrenergo is one of Ukraine's leading electricity generating companies. The state owns 78.289% of the company's shares. Centrenergo consists of three thermal power plants – Vuhlehirska, Zmiivska, and Trypilska. Their combined installed capacity is 7.665 GW, which is 14% of Ukraine's overall power generation capacity. Centrenergo supplies electricity to Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Donetsk regions.
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Centrenergo is to be the first enterprise among the companies for large-scale privatization in 2018, which is expected to be sold this year.
Ernst&Young, which was selected as an adviser on the sale of Centrenergo had assessed a state 73.8% stake in the company at UAH 5.985 billion (US$215.4 million).
On October 3, the Cabinet of Ministers set the starting price of a state stake in Centrenergo at UAH 5.98 billion ($215.3 million).
The company's net profit in 2017 grew by 5 times from 2016, to UAH 1.9 billion ($68.4 million). However, Centrenergo in January-September 2018, reduced its net profit by almost 76.8% year-over-year, from UAH 2.09 billion ($75.2 million) to UAH 489.51 million ($17.6 million).