REUTERS
Ukrspirt "should be completely privatized," according to Ustenko.
Large state-owned enterprises that are monopolies in their respective area need to be split up and sold, suggests Oleh Ustenko, an executive with International Blazer Foundation and freelance advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"How can we try and move our ship from the shallows we have found ourselves at? The development of competition, demonopolization of the economy... Those monsters that exist should be killed and dismembered. I mean NJSC Naftogaz, Ukrzaliznytsia. Those monsters that don’t let us live and breathe, like State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (SGFCU), Ukrspirt ... they just have to go," Ustenko told Radio NV.
According to the advisor, Ukrspirt "should be fully privatized."
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He added that the SFGCU "has no sense in it, at all."
Zelensky's advisor believes that Ukrzaliznytsia should be unbundled and sold, leaving in the hands of the state "strategic things that are not very interesting for businesses."
"I can't stand all these discussions where they say 'don't you dare talk about privatization while we're at the bottom of the economic cycle peak.' This is true, but, firstly, no one said that tomorrow there will be a rosy situation in the world markets, includng in that of Ukraine. There are also threats and serious risks. But is it better for us to wait for the situation on the market to become better so that we could sell and get more money, while same time we'll keep turning a blind eye to the fact that our state resources are being washed out?" Ustenko said.
As reported earlier, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Office, Oleksiy Honcharuk, said that state-owned banks should be sold in the first place. According to the official, minority shares in Ukrzaliznytsia and Ukrposhta may also be put up for sale.
Earlier, Head of the Board of Ukrzaliznytsia Yevhen Kravtsov advocated placing a minority share on the stock exchange. In his opinion, the state should maintain control over the company, but it is necessary to attract private investors who will provide money for development.
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Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev has repeatedly stated that the placement of the company's shares on the stock exchange could help make reform in the company irreversible. He believes it is likely that the new parliament will allow Naftogaz to go for an IPO.