Ukrainian govt approves Energoatom corporatization plan

MOSCOW. June 28 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government has approved the plan for corporatizing Energoatom State National Nuclear Energy Generating Company of Ukraine (NNEGC), with the government retaining full control over the company.

"Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers has approved the plan to reorganize Energoatom State National Nuclear Energy Generating Company into a joint-stock company that is 100% owned by the state," Ukrainian media reported, citing a message that NNEGC posted on social media.

"This is the next step in fulfilling Ukraine's international obligations to bring the management of state-owned enterprises in line with the best international standards of corporate governance," the company said.

As noted, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on March 17, 2023, signed the law "On the Specifics of Organizing the Joint-Stock Company Energoatom NNEGC". As envisaged, 100% of the JSC NNEGC shares are not subject to privatization or alienation by any other means.

NNEGC expects to complete corporatization in half-a-year under optimistic estimates and in one year under pessimistic estimates.

"There are many processes currently underway, including the main one, which is taking inventory of all assets, as well as collecting appeals from creditors. This is not an easy procedure," Energoatom President Petr Kotin said.

Ukraine's Ministry of Economy on Wednesday said that the company's property must be fully inventoried by August 2023, and a company must be selected in order to appraise the value of the property independently. There are plans in November to approve the appraisal act, as well as to prepare the draft government decisions on approving the transfer act of property to JSC NNEGC's charter capital.

Energoatom's shares are scheduled to be issued in December, and NNEGC is expected to complete the process of reorganizing as a JSC by March 2024.

Energoatom operates all functioning nuclear power plants in Ukraine.