Ukrainian parliament at its morning meeting on Thursday, 9 November, passed the first reading of the bill №7066 on the privatization of state property, which is one of requirements of the International Monetary Fund.
The bill voted for 258 by people's deputies is framework law, replacing seven normative legal acts regulating the sale of state property and is designed to greatly simplify this procedure.
The legislation divides the objects of state property into large (with assets worth over 250 mn hryvnia) and small. The former will be sold with the assistance of professional advisors, while small objects will be sold on via electronic platforms like Prozorro.Sales., used to sell the assets of failed banks or non-core assets of state-owned enterprises.
The bill cancels the concept of appraisers in the process of privatization. The cost of objects will be determined by the market.
Also, the law will reduce the time of preparation for the sale from the current 9-12 months down to 4-5 months and increase the time limit for submission of applications of potential buyers from 20-45 days to 20-180 days.
Finally, the new draft law provides for the enhancement the protection of investors' rights, the possibility of applying international arbitration and determining of the governance of English law by agreement of the parties.
The bill prohibits the participation of buyers from Russia in privatization.