Ukraine on Wednesday announced the date and conditions for a re-run of its largest and most contested privatisation, the vast Kryvorizhstal steel plant, and the prime minister predicted the sale would fetch a big price.
The new auction, with the starting price set at 10 billion hryvnias ($2 billion), comes after President Viktor Yushchenko denounced the original sale as "theft". Several foreign companies have expressed interest in buying the mill.
Yushchenko made the selloff a major issue in last year's presidential campaign, which he eventually won after a new vote was ordered over electoral fraud.
His radical prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, speaking to reporters after the State Property Fund set the auction for October 24, predicted at least five bidders would be in the running. She suggested the sale could bring in more than $3 billion.
"Kryvorizhstal will be sold beautifully," Tymoshenko told a news conference. At least one steel analyst seemed to agree.
"I think that, on value for money, $2 billion is perfectly fair," Timothy McCutcheon of Aton brokerage in Moscow said, referring to the starting price. "I don't think the Ukrainian government is going to have a problem getting people to bid."
The new sale of 93.02 percent of Kryvorizhstal, set for October 24, was announced in the State Property Fund's official gazette. Court rulings overturned last year's sale for $800 million, which was below other offers, to a group of businessmen closely linked to Ukraine's previous authorities.
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