Ukraine privatisation: A fortnight after Ukraine announced that it was to put nearly 350 state firms up for sale to foreign investors in a bid to save its war-shattered economy, Prime Minister Aresniy Yatsenyuk made it clear this week that neither Russian investors or their Ukrainian cronies would be getting a slice of the action.
“We’re beginning [a] transparent and honest privatization [process] and, therefore, we want exclusively high-quality foreign investors and not former Ukrainian oligarchs to take part in it,” he said in a televised address. The government has already approved the list of enterprises that will be put up for privatization, including the Tsentrenergo state-owned power utility, a number of thermal power plants, about 30 coalmines, and also chemical, transport and industrial companies.
The programme is due to kick off in October and the government hopes to raise billions of dollars that could be used to plug a leaking budget and deal with the consequences of Russia’s economic blockade.