DniproAzot, a major producer of ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer based in Dniprodzerzhynsk (Dnipropetrovsk region), has withdrawn its lawsuit challenging the terms endorsed by the Cabinet of Ministers of the tender on privatization of the Odesa Portside Factory in Odesa region.
State Property Fund acting chairman Dmytro Parfenenko announced this on Friday evening live in a talk show entitled “Big Politics with Yevgeny Kiseliov”.
In the opinion of the acting chairman of the SPF, the fact is evidence of coordinated actions of DniproAzot with the Nortima Company, which gave the biggest price at the privatization auction but the tender commission has refused to announce it the winner.
Parfenenko said again he suspected the participants in the privatization tender of collusion. He presumed that structures affiliated with the other participants in the privatization tender would later appear among the owners of the Odesa Portside Factory if the State Property Fund had sold the factory to Nortima.
Tymur Novykov said in response that the founders of the company did not have plans to sell shares of the Odesa Portside Factory or the shares of Nortima. However, he did not deny that such intension could emerge in future.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, on September 22, the Kyiv District Administrative Court suspended the competition for the Odesa portside factory (Odesa region) based on a lawsuit filed by the DniproAzot chemical plant.
In its lawsuit, DniproAzot asked the court cancel the Cabinet of Ministers’ directive No. 261-r of February 11, 2008, that approved the terms of the competition for the Odesa portside factory and the State Property Fund’s decision of September 29 to organize the competition.
However, the State Property Fund did not cancel the competition. The SPF said then it had received explanations from the Justice Ministry saying that a court ruling banning the sale of the Odesa Portside Factory must be executed in compliance with the law on the ground of actions of the executive service.
At the same time, the executive service told the State Property Fund that the executive proceedings on a court ruling securing the lawsuit of Dniproazot had not been opened.
The Nortima Company offered during the auction the largest price of UAH 5 billion for the Odesa Portside Factory with the starting price being UAH 4 billion.
On September 29, the State Property Fund refused to recognize the result of the competition for the Odesa portside factory, of which the Nortima limited liability company was declared the winner, on the ground a decision by the tender commission.
SPF acting chairman Dmytro Parfenenko said that the decision not to recognize the result of the competition was prompted by the fact that the obstacles to the privatization of the Odesa portside factory, including court decisions, significantly undermined interest in the factory and result in a reduction of the price of the factory.
Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has accused the participants in the competition of collusion.
Nortima intends to ask a court to order conclusion of an agreement of sale of the factory to the company.
DniproAzot is controlled by Pryvatbank Group.
