State Property Fund head dismissed with second attempt

Ukraine’s parliament voted on Feb. 17 to accept the
resignation request of the head of the State Property Fund, Dmytro Sennychenko.
The decision gained 318 votes of MPs (out of 226 needed), after the
parliament’s members failed to collect enough votes on Jan. 27 (223 votes). The
Rada has not considered any substitute for Sennychenko, thus far.

Sennychenko filed his resignation request in
November, after he received lot of criticism for the
privatization of First Kyiv Machinery Plant, which was sold for USD 54 mln at the
privatization auction in late October. Though the auction winner has paid money
for the asset, the deal has been blocked by law enforcement bodies.

Alexander Paraschiy: Sennychenko
proved his efficiency while State Property Fund head, as the fund was able to
reach UAH 5.1 bln in privatization proceeds in 2021. This was the record-high
amount over the last nine years, but still 57% short of the annual plan.
Therefore, Sennychenko can be potentially blamed by both opponents of
privatization (for  the “inefficient” sale of First Kyiv Machinery Plant)
and advocates of privatization (for failing to meet the privatization plan).
With his dismissal, it is likely that the privatization process in Ukraine will
become slower.