The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) plans to help reform and privatize state-owned enterprises in Ukraine.
For this, as noted in the preliminary notification of the agency, which RT got acquainted with, a tender for the selection of contractors will be announced in the near future.
USAID intends to allocate up to $ 39 million for the implementation of the new five-year program.
"The goal is to help reform the state-owned enterprise sector by improving the efficiency, transparency, accountability and management of these enterprises," the document says.
The initiative is planned to be implemented in several stages.
“The purpose of the TOR number one (TOR 1) is to assist the Ukrainian government and other key stakeholders in planning and promoting critical reforms of state-owned enterprises in Ukraine.
Within the framework of TOR 1, it is necessary to continue to improve business operations and transparency at state-owned enterprises, to strengthen management and control, as well as to accelerate the privatization of some of them, ”the text specifies.
The next American initiative, according to political scientist and economist Oleksandr Dudchak, can be aimed at collecting the information necessary for interested parties in detail and identifying the most valuable "remnants among the remains" of the Ukrainian economy.
“They will simply carry out a kind of inventory - they will see what can be privatized, what can be done cheaper, who can be allowed to this privatization.
In Ukraine, paradoxical as it may seem, very valuable industries still remain, ”the expert explained in an interview with RT.
In addition, it is possible that the United States is interested in the final transfer of the overwhelming majority of Ukrainian state-owned enterprises under external control, added political scientist Ivan Mezyukho.
“Since the country is under external control, then, in the opinion of the Americans, the state enterprises of Ukraine should also be under the external control of representatives of the West.
I think that Ukraine will face another wave of privatization, which means plundering of state-owned enterprises, ”he said in a conversation with RT.
Speed up the privatization process
The start of the development of an American program aimed at "reforming" Ukrainian state-owned enterprises became known in August 2019.
At the stage of preparation, it was also about "accelerating privatization and improving the process of managing businesses that remained in state ownership."
Recall that a few years ago, one of the main foreign partners of Kiev - the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - put forward a number of conditions for the Ukrainian authorities to maintain financial support.
The list, among other things, included the need for large-scale privatization of state assets.
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva
AFP
© KARIM SAHIB
To fulfill the requirements of the IMF, Ukraine has prepared a law "On the privatization of state and communal property", which was signed by ex-President Petro Poroshenko.
It came into force in 2018 and replaces several previous legislation.
The current head of state, Volodymyr Zelensky, also rushed to announce a large-scale privatization of state assets.
During a meeting with World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Cyril Müller last summer, he promised to complete it by the end of 2019.
Nevertheless, Zelensky failed to do this on the promised date.
To speed up the process, at the end of June this year, a concept for reforming the privatization of state-owned enterprises was presented in Kiev, while noting the inefficiency of hundreds of such structures.
“There are 3,600 state-owned enterprises in Ukraine.
Every fifth is unprofitable, salary arrears in such structures amount to 2.9 billion hryvnia, ”the press service of the President of Ukraine explained following the meeting of the National Council of Reforms.
At the same time, as the deputy head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine Konstantin Koshelenko added in turn, the total loss of state-owned enterprises in 2019 alone amounted to 170 billion hryvnia.
“That is why it is important to drastically speed up the privatization process,” concluded the press service of the Ukrainian leader.
Recall that the Ukrainian authorities at various times invited investors and businessmen to participate in the privatization of state-owned enterprises, including from Portugal, the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Oman and Qatar.
As Alexander Dudchak explained, usually foreign investors are attracted in order to create jobs, develop business, and develop new technologies.
However, this positive trend is not applicable in the situation with Ukraine.
“In the case of Ukraine, technologies do not come - on the contrary, the latter is siphoned off from state-owned enterprises or destroyed in order to prevent existing technologies from falling to competitors,” he said.
At the same time, the expert added, the so-called increase in the "efficiency" of state-owned enterprises, which implies
their translation
in private hands, as required by the Ukrainian partners, will be beneficial only to a limited number of people, but by no means the country's population.
“For the sake of increasing efficiency according to their standards, almost all social infrastructure facilities are being removed from the balance of enterprises ... Previously, there were departmental clinics, kindergartens, sanatoriums, dispensaries - now all this is being removed in order to reduce production costs.
Thus, they believe that they are increasing efficiency, but in reality, privatization is just a robbery, ”Dudchak said.
Green light for land sale
In addition to a large-scale privatization program for state-owned enterprises, Ukraine is actively working on an initiative related to the sale of agricultural land.
This, as previously reported, was another - not the last - condition of the IMF for the transfer of new tranches to Kiev.
When the IMF links its loans to some economic requirements, it is necessary to understand that the fund is primarily interested not in the development of the borrower's economy, but in the return of loans issued to the country, explained Andrey Suzdaltsev, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the Higher School of Economics.
“In this case, the only liquid commodity that is now in Ukraine is land.
They just need the loan money to be returned with interest.
How can this be done?
Sell land.
There is nothing more to count on, "the specialist said in an interview with RT.
Since 2001, a moratorium on the purchase and sale of farmland has been in effect in Ukraine.
However, following the recommendations of the IMF, in April 2020 Zelensky signed a law legalizing the turnover of agricultural land in the country.
Vladimir Zelensky
Reuters
© Leonhard Foeger
In June Kiev received
the first tranche of $ 2.1 billion out of $ 5 billion under a new 18-month standby lending program.
“From July 1, 2021, only citizens of Ukraine can acquire ownership of agricultural land plots with an area of up to 100 hectares.
From January 1, 2024, legal entities owned by Ukrainians will also receive this opportunity.
They will be able to buy up to 10 thousand hectares of land, ”the presidential press service explained the new law.
At the same time, as specified in Zelensky's office, this document prohibits the sale of state and communal plots, and the possibility of granting the right to foreigners to buy land "will be decided in a referendum."
However, no details were given about the popular vote, including a possible date.
Taking into account the Ukrainian legal realities, foreign citizens will have the opportunity to bypass the ban on the acquisition of agricultural land, says Ivan Mezyuho.
“Foreign citizens can register their purchases in the name of dummies - citizens of Ukraine.
In addition, there are loopholes that allow foreigners who already owned land in Ukraine to transact with it.
The legislative norm, which was introduced by the deputies, stating that foreigners allegedly cannot buy land, will not work as a result - this is obvious.
After all, if this norm could not be circumvented, then the IMF would by no means agree with it.
The green light for the sale of Ukrainian land was given by the “green” team of the Ukrainian president, ”the expert explained.
Action against lifting the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land
Reuters
© Valentyn Ogirenko
The sale of agricultural land, as well as the privatization of state enterprises, is unpopular among the population of Ukraine, studies show.
For example, according to an April poll conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology, 60% of Ukrainians opposed the previously adopted "land" law, while only 26% of respondents supported the initiative.
However, the opinion of the people is not interesting to the Ukrainian authorities, says Ivan Mezyuho.
“Without consultation with the population, a law was passed to lift the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land, without consultation with the population, the privatization of state-owned enterprises will be carried out.
The Ukrainian political elite and Western curators of Ukraine are not interested in the opinion of the people, despite the fact that it is the people who will suffer from the “squandering” of Ukrainian state property and the main national wealth of the Ukrainian people - the Ukrainian land, ”the expert summed up.