Photo from UNIAN
The businessman considers the plant not only as an industrial, but also as a comprehensive development project.
Ukrainian businessman Sergiy Tigipko says he plans to build residential houses and a large retail and office center in the territory where Kyiv-based PJSC Plant "Kuznya on Rybalsky" is located.
According to Tigipko, he considers the plant not only as an industrial, but also as a comprehensive development project. The production of the plant would not be transferred. However, a large part of its area is not used for production purposes only, therefore it is used inefficiently, he told the news outlet Novoye Vremya on February 28.
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"We are planning to launch a large-scale construction project on this area soon. Most likely, it will be a residential area with schools, kindergartens, and commercial real estate. As for a 9 ha plot near the railway station, we are planning to build a large shopping and office center there," he said.
The shipbuilding Plant Kuznya on Rybalsky (formerly Leninska Kuznya) was established in 1862. In 1995, it was acquired by Petro Poroshenko (now incumbent president), whose business assets are managed by Prime Assets Capital investment fund.
Since the beginning of the war in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, the plant has mastered the production of new defense developments. It produces combat modules and armored vehicles, as well as grenade launchers and anti-aircraft guns. In 2016, Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers allowed the plant to export military goods. This helped the company, which annually posted multi-million dollar losses, to receive more orders. In 2017, its profit totaled UAH 18.6 million (US$689,400), while revenue stood at UAH 776 million ($28.8 million).
At the time of the plant's sale, Prime Asset Capital had a 73.9% stake in the company. Another 20.13% of the company's shares belonged to the VIK foundation, owned by the president's ally Ihor Kononenko, MP from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction. In November 2018, they sold their shares (3.226 million common registered shares, or 94.03%) to Cyprus-based Еwins Ltd controlled by Tigipko. The highest price per share, at which the Cypriot company acquired the plant's shares, was just over $93. The maximum cost of a stake was $300 million.
Poroshenko said he sold the plant to avoid the conflict of interest.