Prime Minister of Ukraine encourages US companies to participate in privatization

Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk called on American companies to participate more actively in the privatization of the country's energy sector. The head of the Cabinet of Ministers said this during a meeting with the co-chairman of the friendship group with Ukraine in the US Senate Richard Durbin.

"The Prime Minister of Ukraine called on American partners to actively use the investment opportunities offered by the privatization campaign in Ukraine, particularly in the energy sector," the information department said.

The head of the Ukrainian government and the US senator “discussed the current state of implementation of reforms in Ukraine, in particular, issues of preparation for large-scale privatization, stabilization of public finances and economic recovery,” the press service said. Yatsenyuk also noted "the continued strong support of Ukraine from the United States."

Earlier, the Cabinet approved the list of state-owned objects to be privatized in the current year. This list includes the state-owned concern Ukrtorf, Centrenergo, a number of thermal power plants and regional energy companies (including Donbassenergo and DTEK Dniproenergo, DTEK Zapenergo, DTEK Donetskenergo). Several oil industry enterprises are also subject to privatization.

Earlier, the United States signed an agreement with Ukraine on the provision of loan guarantees for one billion dollars. The main condition for assisting Kiev was compliance with the requirements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in carrying out economic reforms.

The main limitation of the current privatization in Ukraine is the official ban on the participation of Russian companies in the auction. This was repeatedly stated by the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. In his opinion, the Ukrainian authorities should “continue the process of holding transparent and effective privatization competitions, but limit the participation of beneficiaries of Russian origin.”