NC ECU Share Issue Registered.

Petro Omelianovskiy, the CEO of the National Joint-Stock Company, The Energy Company of Ukraine (NC ECU), announced that the State Securities And Exchange Commission has registered the NC ECU’s share issue, making it the largest Ukrainian company in terms of charter fund size (USD 1.9 bln). The Ministry of Fuel And Energy controls 100% of the company’s shares. The company controls most of the energy generation and distribution companies in Ukraine. Concorde Capital: Similar to other national joint-stock companies: Naftagaz Ukrainy (the state gas monopoly), Vugillia Ukrainy (a coal market operator), Energoatom (nuclear power producer), the NC ECU is unlikely to be privatized. However, the one important implication of this news is that the state has tipped its hand regarding the NC ECU’s future. For the last two years (since the NC ECU was created), the question of registering the shares was postponed because the future of the NC ECU was unclear. The strengthened NC ECU will be an efficient protector of its holdings in short term, but in the midterm it could hinder further privatization in the Ukrainian energy sector.