SPF postpones auction for sale of UMCC to late Dec due to one real bid
The State Property Fund (SPF) has postponed an auction for the sale of the United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC), which controls Vilnohirsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant (Dnipropetrovsk region) and Irshansk Mining and Processing Plant (Zhytomyr region), approximately for December of the current year.
According to a press release from the State Property Fund on Thursday with reference to SPF Deputy Chairman Taras Yeleiko, the decision to set a new date for the auction will be made at a meeting of the auction commission, which will take place on October 29.
"The auction for privatization of UMCC will be held approximately in December of this year," the State Property Fund said with reference to Yeleiko.
"The State Property Fund received two applications for participation in the auction for privatization of UMCC, one of which does not meet the requirements of current legislation. Since the auction cannot be conducted with one participant, the SPF will set a new date for the auction," the Fund's press release says.
At the same time, it is specified that "the auction may be scheduled approximately for December of this year in compliance with the requirements of current legislation."
"The exact date of the auction will be determined by the auction commission on October 29," Yeleiko said, commenting on the postponement of the auction date.
The United Mining and Chemical Company began its actual activity in August 2014, when the government of Ukraine decided to transfer the property complexes of Vilnohirsk and Irshansk plants under its management.
In August 2016, the government assigned UMCC to the list of companies subject to privatization in 2017. Its terms were postponed several times, most recently due to the coronavirus crisis and quarantine.
UMCC sells its products to more than 30 countries of the world and is one of the world's largest producers of titanium raw materials, occupying 4% of the world market. The main sales markets are the EU, China, Turkey, as well as the United States and African countries.
Among the financial conditions of the privatization tender is invest at least UAH 400 million in the modernization of the enterprise. Among other conditions: not to lay off workers for six months and provide social guarantees to workers, provide water to municipal enterprises-consumers.
The date of the repeat privatization auction was set for October 29, 2021. The starting price is UAH 3.7 billion, the auction step is UAH 50 million.
