Andrii Portnov, appointed by the Cabinet of ministers as acting chair of the State Property Fund, claims that negotiations are held with Azot-Service, Russia, on participation of this company in the tender for selling 99.52% of shares in the Odesa portside factory.
Portnov has announced this to Ukrainian News.
He said that the former (in his opinion) leadership of the fund had time to return Azot-Service the security deposit for participation in the tender for selling the factory through the fund's currency account in Ukreximbank.
"The money was transferred. Now we are negotiating with the investor for they to take part in the tender," said Portnov.
He added, Azot-Service is the only company, which had time to submit its bid to the tender for selling the factory until suspended by President Viktor Yuschenko: it has not to submit a new bid only again transfer the security deposit to the SPF.
The SPF acting head predicts that investors will be, most likely, waiting for the deadline of the bids submission, May 12.
"Submission of bids has just begun. We'll be able to speak about this only in several days," said Portnov in reply to the question of how many companies filed their bids to the SPF for the tender of selling the Odesa portside factory.
At the same time he said, eleven companies submitted their applications to the Antimonopoly Committee for a permission to buy the factory.
Three of the companies submitted such applications on May 2.
As Ukrainian News earlier reported, on February 11 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the terms of a competition for 99.52% of the shares in the Odesa Portside Plant at the starting price of UAH 3 billion.
Fifteen companies requested the document package necessary for participation in the competition to privatize the Odesa portside factory.
April 15, President Viktor Yuschenko suspended privatization of the plant by suspending the effect of the Cabinet directive of February 11, approving the tender conditions, and on April 21 the SPF cancelled the earlier invited tender.
Portnov announced on April 25 that the tender for selling the factory is moved from May 6 to May 20, 2008.
The same day Yuschenko again suspended the Cabinet directive, cancelling his decree of April 15, with which he for the first time suspended this government directive.
