President Zelenskyi has a rare opportunity to augment and strengthen strategic assets that the country has only been losing over the years of independence.
Leading Ukrainian experts came to this conclusion, commenting on the submission of a joint application by the Chinese company Skyrizon and the DCH business group of Aleksandr Yaroslavskyi for the acquisition of a controlling stake in the Zaporizhzhia machine-building plant ‘Motor Sich’ to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine.
According to political scientist Aleksey Yakubin, if the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine agrees to the acquisition of ‘Motor Sich’ assets by investment partners in the person of the Chinese Skyrizon and the Ukrainian DCH Group of Yaroslavskyi, the Zaporizhzhia enterprise will have a grand future. Ukraine will have every chance to restore the status quo of an advanced high-tech manufacturing centre on the global aircraft market.
‘I also understand the thoughts of our government and the President. It is not easy for them to make a decision since America has come out strongly against the sale of “Motor Sich” assets to China. And we understand what it means here. But, as the well-known proverb says, “Do not do as the English say but do what they do.” I think the United States would be glad if it would concern their participation in high-tech assets, including jointly with China. A recent story with Microsoft/the US government willingness to buy a stake in TikTok is about this.
Moreover, the shared participation of Aleksandr Yaroslavskyi, in our case, provides the country with a reasonably wide field for geopolitical maneuver. Andmanoeuvresibilities for all future adjustments, in terms of safety, if needed. Simply said, the President and the State now have the opportunity to initiate a grand investment partnership with China and convince the United States of the rationality of a compromise. Today, one cannot just give up the unique technological and production heritage that made Ukraine an industrial and industrial center of Eurcentree have an opportunity to regain economic sovereignty,’ the expert believes.
Ruslan Bizyaev, the political observer, adheres to a similar point of view. In his opinion, the very fact that Zelenskyi instructed the Cabinet of Ministers to identify and eliminate factors blocking the work of strategic Ukrainian enterprises, including analyzing the impact of the privatization of ‘Motor Sich’ on the country's economy, is undoubtedly an encouraging signal.
‘This event gives the President of Ukraine, perhaps, the first large-scale opportunity to demonstrate that he protects the strategic economic interests of Ukraine, and, on the other hand, to show his American partners that he is ready for compromise solutions. Mr Yaroslavskyi’s participation in the authorized capital of “Motor Sich” is, perhaps, the only option for ending geopolitical wars for the Ukrainian enterprise and starting the operation of a motor-building plant for the benefit of Ukraine. China is a strategic trading partner of Ukraine, which, if the President correctly resolves the issue of “Motor Sich”, is ready to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in modern technologies and provide the plant with large-scale orders for decades to come. Partnership with Mr Yaroslavskyi, who has vast experience in reviving seemingly completely “dead” enterprises, will guarantee that production facilities and motor technology will not be exported to China, but will remain in Ukraine. And such a partnership, of course, will serve, first of all, for the good of our country, including strengthening its defence capability,’ the analyst says.
‘Motor Sich’ is one of the world’s largest enterprises for the manufacturing, testing, maintenance and repair of 55 types and modifications of economic and reliable engines for 61 types of aircraft and helicopters for various purposes. The company was acquired by Chinese investors associated with Skyrizon in 2016, investing more than $100 million in the development of production. The investors intended to transfer 25% of the shares to the state voluntarily. However, in June 2020, Ruslan Korzh, Advisor to the General Director of the State Enterprise ‘UkrOboronProm’, said that the proposal was irrelevant.
On August 6, 2020, Denis Shmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine, announced the impossibility of state intervention in the situation with the prospect of resolving the dispute in court.
‘Ukraine is a state with a market economy. Accordingly, the state cannot interfere in the sale of blocks of shares to any investors or the purchase of these shares by anyone. And here, in fact, the question is in the manner of arbitration litigation. The decision should be made not by politicians but by impartial institutions that are intended for this all over the world,’ Shmyhal stated.
Source: https://golos.ua/i/766500
