The State Property Fund of Ukraine initiates the sale of the state share in the Ocean Plaza shopping mall through a large privatization

The Fund has addressed the Government with an initiative to include the state-owned share in the capital city's Ocean Plaza shopping mall in the list of objects for large-scale privatization, with the intention of selling it through an open auction. This asset was previously owned by sanctioned Russian businessmen Arkadiy and Igor Rotenberg.

The preparations for privatizing a 66.65% stake in the authorized capital of LLC "Investment Union "Lybid" (the owner of Ocean Plaza shopping mall) have already begun. In October-November, at the initiative of the SPFU and other shareholders, five audits will take place: legal, financial, technical, forensic, and reputational. These audits will provide strategic investors with an understanding of the market value and development prospects of the asset.

The Fund will recommend the object for sale through an open auction on the ProZorro system, with a starting price equal to the balance value of the state share for the last reporting (annual) period. According to the results of the 12 months of 2022, it amounts to UAH 1.32 billion (the balance value of the entire asset for the reporting period is UAH 1.98 billion).

A wide range of investors will be able to participate in the auction, and competitive bidding will determine the asset's market value. Considering that in the past year, the results of small-scale privatization have shown a nearly threefold increase in prices during auctions on average, the SPFU expects to sell the asset at a price higher than balance value.

Recall that on June 9, 2023, the Government issued an order to transfer to the SPFU a 66.65% stake in the authorized capital of LLC "Investment Union "Lybid", which owns the shopping mall. Previously, these corporate rights belonged to Russian businessmen Arkadiy and Igor Rotenberg, who were under sanctions. However, in March 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court ruled in favor of the state and confiscated the rights from them. In recent months, the SPFU has been working on re-registering rights and addressing other issues related to the saleof the asset.

To date, under the management of the SPFU was transferred 136 objects of sanctioned property belonging to Russian oligarchs and Ukrainian collaborators. The full list you can find on the resource sanlist.spfu.gov.ua.