The court seized 100% of the shares of the First Kiev Machine-Building Plant (until 2018 the Bolshevik plant) as part of an investigation into the case of abuses in the privatization of the enterprise. reported about this on Thursday, the press service of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) of Ukraine.
“The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating criminal proceedings regarding the possible abuse of officials of the State Property Fund of Ukraine during the privatization of the First Kiev Machine-Building Plant on October 27, 2021. Now the investigators of the State Bureau of Investigation are establishing all the circumstances of the illegal alienation of the specified plant from state property at a reduced cost. This caused economic damage to state interests,” the message says.
An expert examination, notes the State Bureau of Investigation, found that the property valuation report used to determine the value of the plant's shares does not comply with the requirements of the law.
“This could negatively affect the reliability of such an assessment,” the investigation believes. In this regard, the investigating judge, at the request of the prosecution, seized 100% of the authorized capital of the enterprise "in order to preserve the specified material evidence." Pre-trial investigation continues.
The first Kiev machine-building plant, which until 2018 was called "Bolshevik", covering an area of more than 50 hectares, was sold at a privatization auction on October 27 for 1.43 billion hryvnias (approximately 54.1 million US dollars). The starting cost of the plant was 1.39 billion hryvnia and increased by 3% during the auction. In total, three participants were admitted to the auction. The auction lasted seven minutes. General Commerce became a co-investor in the acquisition of the plant.
Experts believe that the privatization took place "by agreement." In their opinion, if it were transparent, the state-owned enterprise would be sold at a higher price, and not only Ukrainian, but also foreign investors would participate in the auction.
The Kiev plant "Bolshevik" was founded in 1882 by the Czechs Yakov Greter and Iosif Krivaneko and produced cast-iron fittings, bolts, nuts, and repaired machines. During the defense of Kiev in 1941, the plant produced shells, anti-tank gouges, armored cars, repaired tanks and cars. In the post-war years, the enterprise mastered the manufacture of devices for the production of viscose, since 1964 - a new technology for foundry production. Recently, the plant has mainly rented out premises, at the same time, the production of various large-sized equipment was still preserved here. In 2020, the company's net loss increased by 2.8%, to UAH 22.45 million.
