State Property Fund prepares Zaporizhzhya Aluminium Plant for privatization in the third quarter

The State Property Fund, together with the new management of Zaporizhzhya Industrial Aluminium Plant, is preparing the company for privatization. This was discussed during a meeting between Rustem Umerov, Chairman of the State Property Fund, and Sergey Pavlenko, CEO of the plant.

The company is currently in a difficult financial and economic situation. This was the result of inefficient management by the previous private owners. In 2001, AutoVaz-invest acquired a 68% stake in the plant. Later, in 2006, Velbay holdings limited, a company controlled by Russian Aluminium (RUSAL) of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, became the new owner of this asset. In addition to this stake, he managed to acquire another 29.5% of the plant’s share. As a result, Oleg Deripaska gained control over 97.5% of ZALK’s shares.

However, in 2015, the state returned the 68% stake to the state ownership through a lawsuit and transferred it to the State Property Fund. In February 2023, the remaining shares (29.5%) were recovered by High Anti-Corruption Court at the suit of the Ministry of Justice.

For 14 years, the former owners have effectively looted the enterprise and destroyed the unique primary aluminium production. The plant used to be the only producer of this product in Ukraine. It had primary aluminium production capacity of over 100 thousand tons per year.