The Rada has replaced the head of the State Property Fund: what is known about Dmytro Natalukha and what reforms he promises
14 January 19:29
The Verkhovna Rada appointed Dmytro Natalukha, a member of parliament from the Servant of the People party, as head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine. The decision was supported by 244 parliamentarians, according to Komersant.
Immediately after that, parliament also approved his resignation from parliament.
The appointment came after a several-month hiatus in the Fund’s leadership: the previous head of the SPFU, Vitaliy Koval, was dismissed in September 2024, and Ivanna Smachylo had been acting as the head of the institution.
Who is Dmytro Natalukha
Natalukha was elected to the Verkhovna Rada in 2019 on the Servant of the People party list and headed the parliamentary committee on economic development. Prior to his work in parliament, he also had experience in public service — in 2015–2017, he headed the Lyman District State Administration in Odesa region.
What problems does he see in the State Property Fund?
Speaking in parliament, Natalukha said that the current model of the Fund’s work was formed back in the 1990s and was focused primarily on selling off the Soviet legacy, rather than on strategic management of state assets.
According to him, this model has exhausted itself: most of the attractive assets have already been privatized, and a significant part of the enterprises that remain in state ownership are either stagnating or operating below their potential and need support.
From privatization to capital management
The new head of the SPF emphasized that privatization should only be a tool, not an end in itself. He identified the key task as transforming the Fund into an institution for the development of state capital, which forms strategies for enterprises and makes them profitable, rather than a fiscal burden on the budget.
In this context, Natalukha called on parliament to support draft law No. 13620, which would expand the Fund’s autonomy and simplify the secure sale of assets without debt risks. He also announced the preparation of a new bill No. 14376 on the creation of a special body within the SPF to prepare assets for sale on competitive terms without additional budget expenditures.
Assets of the Ministry of Defense and strategic enterprises
Separately, Natalukha announced his intention to intensify the transfer to the Fund of inefficient enterprises on the balance sheet of the Ministry of Defense. According to him, there are several dozen such objects that are planned to be prepared for privatization in order to attract investments for their development.
At the same time, he promised to continue working on draft law No. 4020, which defines the list of strategic state-owned objects that are not subject to privatization. The document was adopted in the first reading even before the full-scale invasion, but never reached the final consideration stage.
