Revenues to Ukraine's national budget from privatization and state-owned property management in 2011-2014 will come to Hr 50-70 billion, the government has forecast.
The government expects the said results from the implementation of the privatization program for 2011-2014, which was approved by the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, on Jan. 13.
According to the document, when the program is realized, the share of the state sector in the economy will fall to 25-30% of GDP (in 2010 the share was assessed at 37% by the State Property Fund of Ukraine).
The government said that privatization has been going on for 20 years in the country, so the program aims to finish it.
The sale of all small and medium facilities is scheduled for the second stage of the program, set for the second half of 2012 and 2013.
The first stage is fixed for the first half of 2012 and is designed for the preparation of the required legislative and organizational base to switch over to privatization on the principles stipulated in the program.
It is proposed to accelerate privatization thanks to the facilitation of procedures for preparing the facilities for sale and the ways of selling them.
It is planned to lift restrictions on prices, divide them into smaller stakes, sell on the exchanges and put up for sale without announcing their price, in order to sell unattractive stakes.
During the privatization of over 50% of the shares in strategic companies (group D), requirements for buyers and the conditions of the post-privatization use of the facilities will be forwarded.
The state will retain controlling stakes in group D companies, with the sale of the rest of shares in small stakes on exchanges, at the same time, the size of a controlling stake has been raised from 50% plus one share to 60% plus one share.
"During the third stage (2014), privatization will end as a large-scale social and economic project, and proposals will be drawn up to amend Ukrainian law with regard to defining the functions of management bodies to provide for a transition from the privatization process to the sale of the state facilities as a function of managing state-owned facilities," reads the document.
The program says that funds to participate in secondary share issues and prevent bankruptcy will be allocated so as to manage corporate rights that remain in state ownership.
In 2011, privatization receipts to the national budget totaled Hr 11.49 billion, with the target figure being set at Hr 10 billion.
The bulk of the receipts came from the sale of a 92.79% stake in telecoms giant Ukrtelecom for Hr 10.575 billion and a 25% stake in Kyivenergo for Hr 450 million.
Privatization receipts from the beginning of 2012 have already totaled Hr 2.4 billion, or a quarter of the annual target, due to the acquisition by DTEK, controlled by Rinat Akhmetov, of a 40.061% stake in Donetskoblenergo for Hr 467.6 million and a 45.103% stake in Zakhidenergo for Hr 1.932 billion.
