Russian oligarchs will be able to take part in Ukrainian privatization under the guise of Cypriot offshore companies
The privatization law, which is now being signed by the President of Ukraine, will allow the last state property to be sold for next to nothing, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
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The former head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, Alexander Bondar, stated this today at a press conference in Kyiv.
“I don’t believe that the state will sell property to foreign investors on such terms without taking part in it. It’s unrealistic to worry so much about investors. They worry about themselves in order to acquire Ukrainian property for next to nothing, so that it is impossible to protest, and so that no one bears responsibility for it,” Bondar said.
He does not believe that foreign investors will take part in privatization.
“There will be no foreign investors. All investors will be from the Republic of Cyprus, as before. Who will stand behind them is known in advance,” Bondar said.
He also expressed concern that Russian oligarchs would be among the acquirers of Ukrainian state property. In his opinion, this will be facilitated by the fact that a provision on “English law” has been introduced into the privatization law.
“Cyprus offshore is buying our company under the new law. This offshore is being bought by a Russian company. How can we protest the sale of our strategic asset to a Russian company if we need to go to a London court? There, the case can take a very long time to be examined, and it is expensive. And after three years it cannot be returned to state ownership,” Bondar explained the scheme.