Cabinet Hesitates on Luhanskteplovoz Tender.

The Cabinet yesterday decided to put off until next week its final decision on whether to cancel the planned tender of a 76% stake in Luhanskteplovoz (LTPL: HOLD). Although Viktor Yanukovich, the prime minister, announced on Monday that the Cabinet had decided to cancel the tender, the Cabinet yesterday decided to first study the possible legal consequences of cancellation before making a final decision. A working group was formed which is to present its conclusions at the next Cabinet meeting on Sept. 27. The chairwoman of the State Property Fund, Valentyna Semenyuk, said she was against canceling the tender, which she said would hurt Ukraine’s image. She said bidders had already paid deposits and received confidential information, and that cancellation might result in legal action against the government. Olha Pankiv: The Cabinet’s deliberations over LTPL are turning into a saga in which every day seems to bring a new twist. But we are mostly neutral to the news. The planned tender as currently designed would probably not draw a high price, as the conditions favor one bidder (Transmashholding of Russia), whereas if the tender is cancelled, the result could be either better (there could be a better tender) or worse (LTPL’s assets could be transferred to a joint venture partly owned by LTPL, effectively diluting the value of LTPL minority shares).