15 July 2014
Igor Kolomoisky, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region and a key Ukrainian power broker, said in a July 14 television interview that those assets that were privatized from the state under the administration of former President Viktor Yanukovych. The assets that should be returned include telecommunications giant Ukrtelecom (UTLM UK), stakes in power GenCos Zakhidenergo (ZAEN UK) and Dniproenergo (DNEN UK), electricity distributor Dniprooblenergo, gas transit firms, a 49% stake in the Zaporizhia Titanium-Magnesium Plant and chemical factory Sumykhimprom.
Himself an industrial magnate, Kolomoisky said he’s not interested in acquiring these assets. “If the state truly doesn’t need them, then a shareholder association needs to be created to give the shares of these enterprises to the participants of the anti-terrorist operation and patriots,” he said. “I don’t need them and decline them ahead of time. I don’t need management, shares or a controlling stake.” A corrupt state privatization was attempted in June, Kolomoisky alleged, when State Property Fund Director Oleksandr Riabchenko attempted to sell a 100% stake in Sumykhimprom to billionaire natural gas trader Dmytro Firtash for USD 35 mln, or 7 percent of the enterprise’s market value.
Zenon Zawada: Credited for halting the Russian incursion beyond the Donbas region, Kolomoisky is aiming for more positive publicity after being accused by Ukrainian journalist Sergii Leshchenko of blackmailing the Kyiv government for greater political power and confiscation of the assets of a top rival, Rinat Akhmetov. He is also laying down the gauntlet for a battle against another billionaire rival, Firtash, who reportedly has the support of President Petro Poroshenko and the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform party. That’s why we believe that at least those assets controlled by Firtash won’t be confiscated by the state. Akhmetov is vulnerable, however. Zakhidenergo and Dniproenergo represented 65% of thermal power output in 2013 of his energy holding DTEK, while Dniprooblenergo provided 40% of the company’s electricity distribution last year.