When Russia sold off state assets a shroud of mystery surrounded the dealings. No one seems to know, except for the man concerned presumably, how all those Russian Oligarths made their money - but in the Ukraine the government is determined to do things differently. Under the leadership of Viktor Yushchenko, the man who was disfigured by poising, the Ukraine government wants EU membership and determined to be seen to do things right.
A year ago, under the previous regime, the country’s big metal producer Kryvorizhsta was sold for 450m to a firm controlled by the son-in-law of then president Leonid Kuchma. The deal was overturned, and yesterday in the full glare of TV cameras the auction to determine the ownership of the company was started and then finished. It was perhaps the most extraordinary version of reality TV yet seen - more strange even then the recent live birth seen on a European Big Brother programme, as Europe’s No 1 player, Arcelor and Mittel Steel, headed by Britain’s wealthiest man - Lakshmi Mittal, bid for the spoils. And the winner was the Brit residing and Indian born man of steel - with his company agreeing to fork out $4.8bn (£2.7bn).
President Yushchenko said “The amount we will receive for this company will be 20 per cent higher than all the proceeds received in all the years of the Ukrainian privatisation. What happened today shows Ukraine is capable of staging honest privatisations, observing all vital legal procedures.”
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