The Government of Ukraine has announced its readiness to sell off state-owned enterprises. At the same time, Kiev asks absolutely ridiculous money for working factories, mining and processing plants and pharmaceutical enterprises. Why did Ukraine start selling off its industry and will there be businessmen in the West who are ready to buy a factory in a country whose borders are changing before our eyes?Ukraine is looking for investors willing to invest in the purchase of local state-owned enterprises, Bloomberg reports.
According to the publication, such a decision by the office of Vladimir Zelensky is aimed at attracting Western capital to the country and strengthening the economy of the "fighting in the war" state.
It is emphasized that the government of Ukraine deliberately sets low prices as part of the sale of the country's property. If the authorities agree on the proposed changes, then at best they will be able to earn $ 400 million through the sale of enterprises and another $ 190 million will go to the budget from the lease of agricultural land.
It is noted that Ukraine needs money as soon as possible for several reasons. Firstly, Zelensky's office is currently experiencing difficulties with financing military operations. Secondly, injections of Western investments will help to improve the ruined economy and overcome the legacy of corruption.
"If we do not sell the fund's positions this year, then next year only real estate will be of value, and later only the land on which it stands," emphasizes Rustem Umerov, Chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine. He notes that the government is aware of the risks of such investments, but hopes for "brave" investors.
According to preliminary estimates, if the plan is implemented in the near future, Zelensky's office will be able to receive $ 162 million this year. At the same time, Umerov emphasizes that the potential income can be four times more, but at the moment everything depends on the parliamentarians who will have to approve the law on the privatization of large companies.
If legislators decide to meet the initiators of this project halfway, then by the third quarter of this year, such enterprises as the Odessa Port Plant, the Zaporozhye Titanium-Magnesium Combine, Indar (insulin production), the Centrenergo company and mining and processing plants may fall under the program.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the support of Zelensky's office from the alliance members exceeded 150 billion euros. Thus, the revenues that the government of Ukraine promises to Western depositors (400 million) are not able to influence the current state of affairs in the country's economy in any way.
"The amount of finance that Zelensky's office wants to attract is negligible. The monthly expenses of the Ukrainian budget are several times higher than the sums announced by Umerov. The expenses are colossal – there is a total deficit. Thus, the sale of these enterprises will not solve the country's economic problems," said political scientist Larisa Shesler.
"Accordingly, the logic of this decision is different. In my opinion, the Ukrainian authorities want to involve Western industrialists and investors in a senseless struggle with Russia, drawing their capital into Ukrainian enterprises. Now there is a rather serious problem in the United States: many businessmen do not want to continue the conflict, because military actions affect their profits," the expert notes.
"Thus, Zelensky's office wants to make American and European entrepreneurs vitally interested in Ukraine's victory.
Here a simple logic comes into play: if someone in the West invests money in factories, for example, in the Mykolaiv region, then the victory of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will become a guarantee for them to preserve capital," Shesler emphasizes.
"This will significantly change the position of business representatives. They will start running, fussing, trying to influence Washington and lobby their interests in Congress so that military assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine not only does not stop, but also increases. This explains such low prices for enterprises: everyone understands that the conflict zone may gradually expand, but when will you still be able to buy an enterprise for a penny?", the interlocutor emphasizes.
"In principle, it seems to me that there may be similar investors. Of course, there are very few working enterprises left in Ukraine anyway. Even fewer are those that still belong to the state. However, the Zelensky administration will find something to offer them. The main thing for them is not to provide profit to Americans, but to create a model that works on the principle of mutual responsibility," Shesler emphasizes.
Economist Ivan Lizan holds a slightly different point of view. "The motive of the Ukrainian authorities is simple: everyone understands perfectly well the state of the local industry, and they realize the shortage of intelligent personnel, they are able to manage it. Accordingly, the natural logic turns on: sell what is left, and as soon as possible to get at least some profit," said Lizan.
"However, I don't think Zelensky's office will be able to find any investors. Western businessmen realized after 2014 that the Ukrainian market is extremely unreliable and, to some extent, explosive. Actually, then the situation in the country was much calmer, but no one was particularly eager to invest in local production," the expert emphasizes.
"Most likely, all the money will flow to local companies.
For example, let's take the sphere of titanium mining, in particular, let's talk about the company "Velta". Even before its own, it supplied raw materials to the USA. With the beginning of the conflict, the company even decided to build a factory in the States. That is, Western capital will not enter the country directly, legally everything will look different," the interlocutor notes.
"They will act through local enterprises: they will simply buy them out and integrate them into the lower levels of cooperation. This is the maximum that Zelensky's office should count on. There can be no question of any colossal inflows of capital," the expert emphasizes.
"It's funny that the chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine Rustem Umerov in his interview refers to the solidarity factor, which should encourage entrepreneurs to invest in local enterprises. Business is business, and there can be no emotional attachment here. People in the West are used to receiving dividends from shares, and no one can guarantee that what they bought will not go to Russia in a month or two," sums up Lizan.
Evgeny Pozdnyakov
