Poltava Prosthetic Plant put up for privatisation
30 August 2024 09:12
The State Property Fund of Ukraine has announced the start of the privatisation of Poltava Prosthetic and Orthopaedic Enterprise. This was announced on social media by Vitaliy Koval, the Head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, reports "Komersant Ukrainian"
The company has production facilities in Poltava, Sumy and Kropyvnytskyi, where it manufactures prostheses, orthoses, orthopaedic shoes, bandages and other medical devices. The plant employs 94 specialists.
The auction for the company is scheduled for 10 September 2024. The starting price is set at UAH 18,447,673.55 excluding VAT, and the guarantee deposit is UAH 3,689,534.71. Bids will be accepted until 20:00 on 9 September 2024.
The privatisation terms stipulate that the company’s business profile must be maintained for 10 years and that no employees may be dismissed within the first 6 months after the change of ownership.
More information on the privatisation terms is available here.
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Why the government is giving up on prosthetic plants
Vitaliy Koval explains that the decision to privatise prosthetic plants was caused by several factors. At the end of 2022, it turned out that 15 out of 17 state-owned prosthetic and orthopaedic enterprises transferred to the SPFU were unprofitable. This indicates problems with efficiency and modernisation in the industry, which is now particularly important due to the growing need for prosthetics as a result of the war.
Despite the increase in the number of rehabilitation sessions from 2,000 to 10,000 per day since the beginning of the war, the production of prostheses remains a problematic issue. The demand for prostheses exceeds production capacity, creating queues and delays in providing patients with them.
Over the past 5 years, the share of state-owned enterprises in the production of prostheses has decreased from 32% to 14%. This may indicate that state-owned enterprises are not competitive in the market. The industry needs constant investment in new technologies and equipment, which state-owned enterprises, limited by their budget, cannot provide, says the SPFU chairman.
“This slows down the development of the industry at the time when it needs modernisation the most. Privatisation of state-owned prosthetic enterprises is a necessary step for change. This will allow us to attract the necessary investments and the latest technologies, optimise the use of existing assets and significantly increase the production of prostheses in Ukraine,”
– Koval believes.
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