Photo from UNIAN
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has removed the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine (SFGCU) from the list of state-owned enterprises to be privatized in 2016-2017, according to the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry press service.
The delay in the SFGCU sale is due to the government's intention to restore the company’s cooperation with China’s ССЕС.
"The State Food and Grain Corporation was excluded from the list of state-owned companies to be privatized in 2016-2017. This decision will enhance the company's efficiency and allow it to continue effective cooperation with its Chinese partners," the press service quoted Minister Taras Kutoviy as saying.
Read alsoUkraine collects a mere UAH 189 mln of UAH 17 bln from privatization in 2016As reported, the delay in the privatization was motivated by the government's will to restore cooperation of the State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine with the Chinese ССЕС, suspended after the decision to sell the asset.
Earlier, Acting Chairman of the Board of SFGCU Oleksandr Grygorovych noted that the removal of the corporation from the privatization list would let it over the next two years to implement infrastructure projects agreed with the Chinese party and to increase the company's value. In his opinion, such a step would create favorable conditions for the company sale at an open tender.
As UNIAN reported earlier, before the adoption of the appropriate decision, there were 33 Ukrainian companies in the 2017 privatization list, including the Agrarian Fund, Artemsil, Ukrspyrt, and the SFGCU.
Read alsoUkraine's Grain Corp. not to use $1.5 bln in Chinese loan fundsIn 2012, the SFGCU attracted a US$ 3 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank of China, of which only $500 million was used; $1 billion remained in the deposit account in Ukreximbank, while another $1.5 billion is stored in a Chinese bank. The corporation has already paid $200,000 for the fund reservation. One of the reasons of company losses is reported to be the need to service the currency loan under the contract with the Chinese side, while the SFGCU does not intend to use the loan funds.
The State Food and Grain Corporation of Ukraine is a vertically integrated company that performs the complete cycle of operations with cereals and processed products, ranging from production to exports.