5 Oct 2022 14:11

Ukrainian govt hands more than 800 enterprises to State Property Fund

MOSCOW. Oct 5 (Interfax) - Ukraine's government on October 4 decided to transfer more than 800 enterprises with assets worth UAH 45 billion or $1.2 billion at the current exchange rate to the State Property Fund, First Deputy Economy Minister Denis Kudin said on social media.

"This is the biggest transfer of enterprises during this government's term. In fact, now only assets in the field of energy, infrastructure, defense industry, culture and standardization and metrology remain accountable to the ministries," he said.

The list includes Artyomsol, Odessa Film Studio and coal enterprises, among others.

Kudin said that the State Property Fund had not yet received enterprises where restructuring or transformation to another organizational form is underway, for example, from a state enterprise to a state institution or state organization; or companies under liquidation, or that perform service functions.

"The next step is for the State Property Fund to take. We expect that by mid-November the Fund will be able to actually start working as a management body for these and other enterprises, for which a decision to transfer was reached earlier," said Kudin, who was previously responsible at the Fund for managing state assets.

Kudin said the purpose of the reform was to reduce the state's role in the economy and encourage private entrepreneurial initiative. The Fund will decide on the privatization of some enterprises, while others will be consolidated into asset management holdings and will bring dividends to the budget.

The State Property Fund would like to become the sole manager of all state property in the country, while it is currently distributed among 96 different state departments, said Rustem Umerov, who was appointed head of the Fund in September.

Speaking at the Rebuilding Ukraine forum he said that such centralization would make state property management more effective.

He previously announced plans to create a Sovereign Fund, which would unite the main state enterprises.