Yesterday, the State Property Fund (SPF), headed by BYuT-loyal Andriy Portnov whose legitimacy as SPF head is questionable, gave in to privatization pressures by making a prudent decision to postpone the sale of government stakes in six DisCos. Portnov said that the DisCo sales will be rescheduled to take place after the Odessa Portside Plant (OPP) auction, slated for May 20. However, there are strong doubts that the OPP sale will in fact go ahead as planned.
Portnov’s decision stems from his weak position as unlawful head of the SPF and the ongoing privatization battle between the president and Cabinet, which is making investors steer clear of the sales. We believe that the halt in privatization is beneficial not only to the president and still-acting head of the SPF Valentyna Semenyuk, but it is also a chance for potential bidders (Energy Standard and Privat Group) to agree on prices and divide their influence in five of the DisCos slated for privatization. Since the suspension of the DisCo privatizations was widely expected, we rank the news as NEUTRAL.

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