Rada Set To Vote On Revised 2007 Privatization List

At plenary session this afternoon the Verkhovna Rada is scheduled to vote on a revised 2007 privatization list that includes the amendments suggested by the President. On December 28, Yushchenko vetoed the Rada’s 2007 list claiming the legislature did not have the constitutional right to say which companies could be included on the list. On December 12, the Rada approved approved a list of companies to be privatized in 2007. The list includes small stakes in 21 energy companies, 28 companies from the coal industry and  big names like Ukrtelecom (UTEL: BUY), the Odesa Portside Fertilizer Plant, Luhansktepolvoz (LTPL: HOLD), Kharkiv Traktor and Rosava (ROSA). The 2007 Budget calls for revenues of USD 2 bln from privatizations.  Nick Piazza:  The revised list will almost certainly be passed in the Rada and stands a good chance of getting Yushchenko’s approval as the new version of the law takes into account nearly all of his suggestions. The President’s main objections to the original law was that it did not allow the State Property fund to add or subtract companies from the list without passing additional laws and that it required the state to sell companies where it owned greater than a 25% stake along with the land underneath them.