State Property Fund Proposes Privatization Of UTEL, Odessa Portside

The State Property Fund (SPF) has sent a letter to the Cabinet prosing the privatization of Ukrtelecom (UTEL: HOLD) and the Odessa Portside Plant. According to the letter the SPF wants to place 10% stakes in both UTEL and Odessa Portside on local exchanges. Additionally the SPF recommends selling and another 34.6% of UTEL on international exchanges. The 2007 Budget calls for revenues of USD 2 bln from privatizations. Alexander Paraschiy: The SPF’s initiative concerning the privatization of Ukrtelecom is not in line with the President’s goal of selling the company to a strategic investor and looks more like a rough attempt to meet the 2007 privatization revenue target.  Ideally, in terms of the company’s business, UTEL would be sold as a whole and not in bits and pieces.