The State Property Fund of Ukraine (SPF) plans to put PJSC United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC) at the first large privatization auctions in 2021 at the end of the first or the beginning of the second quarter with an initial price being from UAH 3 billion to UAH 5 billion, Head of the Fund Dmytro Sennychenko has said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

"It is very important to understand that you should start with a price slightly lower (not low, but slightly lower) than the market price in order to have more participants. The starting price will vary between UAH 3 billion and UAH 5 billion. But it has not yet been finally determined," he said.

Sennychenko said that the SPF is already submitting the terms of the tender to sell UMCC for approval by the Cabinet of Ministers.

He also said that the Fund closely monitors the management of the company and, despite the change of top managers, it managed to achieve an increase in the company's net profit this year, to approximately UAH 700 million from UAH 100 million last year.

Sennychenko previously said that 16-18 companies announced their intention to take part in the privatization of UMCC.

"Among them are two Ukrainian holdings, and the rest are well-known international companies: Japanese, Australian and others, which will compete with each other, having received information about the company, about reserves, about deposits," the head of the SPF said in April last year in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine.