Number of state-owned companies in Ukraine to decrease 30-fold — Svyrydenko

The relevant document outlines the criteria for a company to remain state-owned. These include fulfilling public needs for certain services (e.g., Guaranteed Buyer), protecting national interests (e.g., Energoatom, Ukroboronprom), ensuring affordable prices (e.g., Ukrposhta, Ukrzaliznytsia), or being a natural monopoly (e.g., Ukrenergo).

“The policy involves triage — analyzing all state assets and categorizing them: those that will remain state-owned, those to be privatized, or those to be liquidated,” she said. “The government plans to reduce the number of state-owned companies to about a hundred, down from more than 3,000 today.”

The goal of this optimization, according to Svyrydenko, is to increase the efficiency of state-owned companies, boost their contribution to the economy, and reduce the government’s budget expenditures on maintaining them.

“Adopting this policy is not only a necessary step in the reform process but also part of Ukraine’s international commitments,” she noted. “It serves as an indicator of Ukraine’s plan for the Ukraine Facility and a marker in the IMF memorandum. The policy aligns Ukraine’s state ownership system with the updated OECD guidelines.”

According to the Ministry of Economy, the state ownership policy includes:

• Clear definition of sectors where the state should maintain its presence;
• Optimization of the state asset portfolio, which includes privatizing or liquidating non-strategic enterprises;
• Implementation of modern corporate governance standards based on OECD principles, including the establishment of independent supervisory boards;
• Mandatory criteria for forming supervisory boards;
• Plans to improve efficiency, preserve, and increase the value of assets;
• Reporting rules and setting objectives for state-owned companies;
• Rules for organizing management, distributing functions, and allocating powers between state authorities and companies.