The Government unblocked financing privatization, next step we are waiting from the Verkhovna Rada Budget Committee

On August 5, 2020, the Cabinet Ministers of Ukraine at its meeting approved the Resolution “On the allocation of funds for the partial recovery of expenditures under the budget program in the field of privatization of state property from the fund for combating acute respiratory disease COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and its consequences”.

The Resolution of the Cabinet Ministers of Ukraine partially returns budgetary financing of privatization in the amount of UAH 48,400,000.

The next step for the actual recovery of these costs should be the approval of the allocation of funds by the Verkhovna Rada Budget Committee.

“Four months ago, the State Property Fund was deprived of UAH 243 million, redirecting them from the budgetary privatization program to the COVID-19 fight fund. This actually stopped a number of long-term processes that should have brought the state billions of hryvnias, especially needed in the coronacrisis”, said Dmytro Sennychenko, Chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine. He also added: “We will do our best to speed up the process and quickly make up for these four months.In this we would be greatly helped by a parliamentary decision to cancel the amendment to the Law on Privatization actually blocking large-scale privatization: until the end of the quarantine, it is prohibited to hold auctions on objects of large-scale privatization and any actions to prepare objects for privatization until the end of the period of restrictive measures.We can effectively prepare objects right now, and we ask them to give us this opportunity as soon as possible.”

Earlier, on March 30, 2020, in connection with the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, the Verkhovna Rada redirected funding under the budgetary program for privatization in the amount of UAH 243 million to the fund to fight COVID-19. This led to the fact that the costs of privatization, including activities under already concluded and registered contracts, on which part of the work had already been completed, remained unfunded for four months.Preparation of large privatization objects for sale is under threat.This also led to the blocking of all budgetary accounts of the six regional offices of the Fund.

The State Property Fund of Ukraine hopes for a quick consideration of the issue by the budget committee of the Verkhovna Rada and an adoption of a positive decision, which will continue the successful process of attracting investment to the Ukrainian economy through privatization.