Zhytomyr distillery has been sold. Who bought it and for how much
14 April 09:42
The State Property Fund has successfully held an online auction for the privatization of the Unified Property Complex of the state enterprise Zhytomyr Distillery. This was reported by the Fund, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
What exactly was put up for sale
The subject of the auction was the only property complex of the plant, which includes 147 units of real estate with a total area of 24320.5 m², 1457 units of equipment and 47 vehicles.
The privatization conditions also included the repayment of wage and budget arrears within 6 months and the prevention of dismissal of employees at the initiative of the new owner or his authorized body within 6 months from the date of transfer of ownership.
How the auction went
There were 2 bidders for Zhytomyr Distillery. The starting price of the lot was UAH 101.1 million, and the final price was UAH 137.5 million. That is, the price increased by 1.36 times.
The winner will additionally have to pay UAH 27.5 million in VAT, so the total economic effect may amount to UAH 165 million.
The State Property Fund reminded that the winner of the auction has 20 days to pay for the lots. After paying the full price of the lots, including VAT, the object will become the property of the investor.
Who participated and who won the auction
SPK-Invest 2021 LLC is the new potential owner of Zhytomyr Distillery. In addition to this company, Khleborob-S LLC also participated in the auction.
According to the terms of the auction, the new owner of the Zhytomyr Distillery is obliged to pay off its debts (UAH 161.2 million as of the end of 2024) within 6 months.
According to Opendatabot, cited by AIN, SPK-Invest 2021 LLC was founded in 2021 in Dnipro. The main activity is gas trading through local pipelines.
AIN also reports that the ultimate beneficial owners of the company that won the auction are business brothers Vasyl and Yevhen Astionov. The entrepreneurs are the owners of the financial company Fingroup Factor, and are also the beneficiaries of the Khorol Baby Food Plant (Malyutka brand) and a number of agricultural enterprises that are part of the Dnipro Agro Group.
How successful is privatization in Ukraine?
As an example of a successful sale, another online auction was held on the same day as the sale of the Zhytomyr Distillery.
The second lot was an asset under construction in Kyiv. This is a building with a total area of 6300.00 m² and a construction area of 3600.00 m². The level of construction readiness is 20%. There were 5 bidders for the lot. The starting price of the lot was UAH 3.9 million, and the final price was UAH 56 million. That is, the price increased by 14.34 times.
There are many such examples of the price increasing many times over. Such sales ensured the overall success of Ukrainian privatization last year. Back then, the government set the Fund the task of raising UAH 4 billion to the budget and transferring 301 objects for privatization. The Fund exceeded the plan by 2.5 times, selling 377 privatization objects. The result of privatization in 2024 was about 3.14 times higher than in 2023.
The largest privatization revenues were recorded in Kyiv – UAH 7.5 billion. This was largely due to the sale of large-scale privatization objects and the most expensive small-scale privatization lot, the Kozatsky Hotel (UAH 400 million).
In addition to the Kozatsky Hotel, there were six other lots sold for more than UAH 100 million. These included the Ivano-Frankivsk Boiler and Welding Plant (sale price – UAH 320 million), Kyiv Experimental Prosthetic and Orthopedic Enterprise (UAH 165 million), and a 50% stake in the authorized capital of PJSC Machine-Building Production Association Orion (UAH 120 million).
In 2024, small-scale privatization was supplemented by large-scale privatization. This is the sale of objects with an asset value of more than UAH 250 million. The first such assets sold were the Ukraina Hotel in Kyiv (purchased by Ola Fine LLC for more than UAH 2.5 billion at a starting price of UAH 1.047 billion) and United Mining and Chemical Company JSC, one of the world’s leading titanium ore producers (sold for UAH 3.94 billion to Cemin Ukraine).
