The creation of a state holding which will include state enterprises will protect them from political influence and improve their management, Economic Development and Trade Minister of Ukraine Aivaras Abromavicius has said.

"We propose that a holding company is created to effectively manage state enterprises. It would protect state enterprises from political influence and would make possible the planning of the operation of state enterprises for long-term periods," he said at a roundtable talk devoted to reform of state-owned companies in Kyiv on Monday.

Abromavicius also said that critics of the idea believe that it is impossible to manage companies in different sectors from one center.

However, Abromavicius said that this initiative has been successful in the west and gave 26 sovereign funds that manage companies in different sectors as an example.

He said that ministries and agencies should be deprived of the right to manage state enterprises, leaving them with only the right to design a strategy to develop the public sector.

He did not name the companies which the ministry proposed to include in the state holding. He said that the list includes 20-30 enterprises and it has been sent to other ministries for agreement. Abromavicius expects that the list could be changed many times.

The minister said that the list should only include enterprises that are strategically important for the country's economy and security.

He said that the supervisory board of the holding company could appoint directors of the state companies and remove political influence on the appointments of top managers of state companies, adding that it is better to involve as many foreigners as possible in the holding's board to make the management of state companies independent.