SPF expects Ukrtelecom to fetch UAH 10 bln

The State Property Fund expects to announce the auction for the government’s 92.3% stake in Ukrtelecom (UX: UTLM UK) in early August, with a target sale price of UAH 10 bln (UAH 0.57 per share), SPF head Oleksandr Ryabchenko said at a press conference yesterday. The actual tender must take place at least 75 days after an announcement. Ryabchenko said the SPF expects a universal service provision fund to be created prior to the sale, which will subsidize Ukrtelecom’s unprofitable obligatory social services. Yegor Samusenko: Despite the perpetual talk of privatizing Ukrtelecom in the last ten years, we rate the new government’s will to make the sale as being as strong as ever and see the SPF being able to put Ukrtelecom on the auction block in November-December.