Luhanskteplovoz: Four Bidders and a Court Ruling.

The State Property Fund announced last night that four bids were delivered in the tender for 76% of Luhanskteplovoz by yesterday’s deadline. Eight potential bidders had received confidential tender information, including five locals (from three business groups) and one each from Russia, Germany and Poland. Meanwhile, the Higher Administrative Court ordered the State Property Fund to sell the stake to the one of the local companies, AvtoKrAZ, which the court ruled had legitimately won a 2001 tender that authorities of the time cancelled. This latest twist in the LTPL melodrama came a day before the Cabinet is due to make a final decision on whether to cancel the current tender, which is scheduled to be decided in an Oct. 3 live auction. Olha Pankiv: The SPF is likely to appeal to the Supreme Court, which would suspend the lower court’s ruling until well after the scheduled auction date. The Cabinet is likely to use the court case and an extra justification to postpone the tender.