The head of Ukraine’s State Property Fund (SPF) Rustem Umerov announced, according to an April 20 Bloomberg article that Ukraine is looking for “brave” investors as it seeks to sell big state-run companies at distressed prices. Evidently, almost 1,800 of the over 3,500 companies listed as state-owned are bankrupt. Bloomberg singles out distilleries and grain elevators as of possible interest to investors, amongst a lot of duds, “which will likely see limited demand.”
Umerov states: “There are emerging markets, and there is an emergency market, and as an emergency market, we are one of a kind.” He seeks investors “brave” enough to buy into some of these properties while touting possible 2,000% gains ("this should be a 20x story for you in the future"). Kiev is hoping to earn over $400 million by selling companies ranging from a fertilizer producer to utilities, smelters and an insulin maker.
