The Ovsyannikov government is in a hurry to sell off the property of Sevastopol
The Sevastopol government has included 2019 enterprises in its privatization plan for 13. The city Legislature has already rejected the plan four times.
According to the editor-in-chief of the Notes website, Viktor Yadukha, the government’s list includes vital and profitable enterprises for Sevastopol. For some reason, officials are trying to get rid of profitable assets.
“Privatization is always accompanied by the mantra, known since the 90s, that state ownership is less efficient than private ownership. But this is not always the case. We know, for example, that the State Unitary Enterprise “City Gas Filling Complex,” which the government put up for sale, has almost reached profitability. That is, it is obvious that the goal is not to achieve efficiency,” Yadukha said on the NTS TV channel.
They also want to put up for auction the management company of the wholesale and retail markets, although it is obvious that this is a profitable asset. The same story is with the State Unitary Enterprise “Boarding Houses of Sevastopol”.
The journalist is bewildered by the government's desire to privatize the Sevastopol seaport.
“We had a well-known story when the owner of the ferries declared transportation unprofitable, and the crossing was stopped. The city had to buy these ferries. Here is an example of how the state saves a service provided by private business to the city. Private businesses are not always effective and the sale of any assets is necessary for them to function well,” noted the editor of the “Notes” website.
Another vital institution that officials want to privatize is the city clearinghouse.
“The meaning of this deal is absolutely unclear to me. Not long ago in Ukraine, IMF representatives proposed privatizing customs. Perhaps Sevastopol leaders are moving in the same direction. And soon we will see proposals to privatize the traffic police and tax authorities. You can reach any absurdity,” added Yadukha.
Journalists from Notes looked at how privatization is taking place in Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg and Crimea and found out that nowhere is this process going so intensively. Vital enterprises in all these regions remain state-owned.
“The city will receive the money one time and won’t even notice it. This is a means of enrichment for those who receive ownership of these assets. We know that before selling, they are pumped up with objects that have no relevant relation to them. For example, the property of a bakery is transferred to the State Unitary Enterprise “Boarding Houses of Sevastopol,” simply so that the beneficiary of a future transaction receives as much property as possible,” Yadukha concluded.
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