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Thursday, June 21, 2007

Ukraine Makes IPO Debut on London Stock Exchange

Ukrainian ore enrichment giant Ferrexepo plc, owned by MP Kostyantyn Zhevago, BYuT, Wednesday introduced Ukrainian equity to the London IPO market. Since the stock began trading, the company’s market capitalization has reached ₤848 m, up 40 percent from its opening price.

Ferrexpo’s IPO, a groundbreaking event for Ukraine, marks a positive trend in its economy: a tradeoff between cost of capital and asset control. As Ukrainian chaebols flock to Western financial markets, they give up a portion of control over what has been a closely held economy bolstered by a hot commodity market. The Ukrainian economy is entering a post-privatization stage, one in which the laundry list of inefficiencies inherited from the Soviet era will not be tolerated.

With the right mix of public pressure and government policy, the trend promises to put a "restraining order" on business and politics to keep a healthy distance between each other. This, in turn, will put Ukraine on the right track, ensuring a climate shift toward social responsibility and innovation.

The change in the game will accelerate Ukraine’s diversification into hi-tech, value-added industries — a knowledge economy that will raise living standards.

Source: http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2007/6/20/60609.htm

4 comments:

olechko said...

this is a good bit of news

Taras said...

Yes, it is. Opening up the economy, I believe, will help deoligarchize Ukraine.

I’ve been a lurking at your blog for a while. It’s not like I’m a big connoisseur of art, but that Lenin piece really moved me:))) You have a nice community there and a great blog:)!

Anonymous said...

"The Ukrainian economy is entering a post-privatization stage, one in which the laundry list of inefficiencies inherited from the Soviet era will not be tolerated. "

What? never heard of the Savings and Loan disaster? or from small to large - Crazy Eddie's to Enron?

Please. When all is said and done and the smoke finally clears - Europe, America and the West are going to be dry-cleaned by some of the sharpest sharks on the market. This is the opportunity for people like Yufa to go global.

Luida

Taras said...

Do you agree that financial fraud carries stiffer penalties in the West? I bet you do:)

My point was: Once you go global and your stock starts trading on the FTSE, it’s a whole new ball game. Yanukovych will no longer be able to “protect your future.” You'll only have your brainpower to rely on.

Old boys’ networks will always be with us, but the days of cronyism as the perpetuum mobile of wealth creation in Ukraine are numbered.