SPF to sell control of CEEN, DOEN by July 2012?

Ukraine’s State Property Fund is planning to privatize the state’s controlling stakes in power generation companies Centrenergo (CEEN UK) and Donbasenergo (DOEN UK) by the end of 1H12, Interfax reported yesterday, citing the head of the SPF.

Alexander Paraschiy: With few details on the SPF’s privatization pipeline, we assume the new privatization auctions will be structured similar to other GenCo privatization that have gone forward, with the state retaining only 25% stakes in each company. This implies the state will offer controlling stakes in both GenCos: 53% in Centrenergo (out of 78% currently controlled) and 61% in Donbasenergo (from 86% currently held). If the auction is organized transparently, we could see huge interest in the stakes from international energy companies, which we believe will be a real price catalyst for Centrenergo and Donbasenergo stocks.