Stone processing company owned by ex-wife of Saldo collaborator to be sold at auction
27 August 2024 14:34
The State Property Fund of Ukraine has announced the sale of the Kashtan stone processing enterprise, which previously belonged to the ex-wife of Kherson collaborator Volodymyr Saldo, who headed the so-called military-civilian administration of Kherson region during the occupation of Kherson, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The starting price of the lot is UAH 3.2 million, and the auction is scheduled for 5 September.
The auction is for 99.8612% of the company’s shares (37 million shares), which is the bulk of the company’s charter capital of UAH 370 thousand.
The company’s core business is the extraction of decorative and building stone, limestone, gypsum, chalk and clay shale. In the period from 2021 to the first half of 2024, the company sold products worth UAH 6 million, without exports. The company also has a subsoil use permit valid until June 2040.
Kashtan’s assets include four real estate units with a total area of 94 sq m in Zhytomyr region and a 4.9 ha land plot. The company also has eight registered vehicles and special machinery, as well as various equipment.
The terms of the sale include the repayment of wage and budget arrears within six months and the prevention of dismissal of employees during the same period at the initiative of the new owner.
What is a three-round English auction?
Before the auction starts, the bidders submit their closed bids. Potential buyers do not know whether there are any other competitors and do not see each other’s bids. The electronic auction system ranks the bids from lowest to highest, and the highest (closed) bidder has the right to make the last move in each round. This gives him the highest chance of winning.
The auction starts when at least two bidders have registered for the auction. However, in certain destinations, a lot can be bought by the only registered bidder at the price he or she offered. During three rounds, which last 3 minutes each, participants compete for the lot and raise their bids. When the auction ends, all information about the participants is disclosed.
The three-round English auction is the most common type of auction in the system, which can be used to sell or buy any asset: rent a wagon or buy a subsoil use permit.
What is known about Kashtan stone processing company
In September 2022, Kashtan PJSC, a stone processing company in the Zhytomyr region, was arrested. After that, the company was re-registered from Volodymyr Saldo’s ex-wife Lyubov Saldo to their family’s former son-in-law Vitaliy Sinkov.
Later, the High Anti-Corruption Court confiscated the assets of Volodymyr Saldo and his family. Among them was Kashtan PJSC
After some time, the company was returned to Lyubov Saldo, and in August 2023, the State Property Fund finally received Kashtan PJSC under its management.
