Lutsk Automobile Plant will sell 10% of its shares on the exchange. The planned private placement was reported to "DELO" by Dmytro Tarabakin, Director of Trading Operations and Sales at "Dragon Capital" (which is the plant's exclusive partner for share sales). According to him, the company will sell 10% of its shares, part of which will be sold on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and part in Ukraine through the First Trading Stock System.

Dmytro Tarabakin declined to disclose the amount the enterprise plans to raise for this stake, citing the confidentiality of the deal. According to him, the placement of the company's shares was supposed to be completed last night, after which "Dragon Capital" would be ready to share its details. According to Tarabakin, "among the companies that submitted bids are American and European investors."

This is already the second major project of "Dragon Capital" to attract foreign financing by Ukrainian companies through entering international trading platforms and placing securities.

At the end of last year, "Dragon Capital" organized the sale of a block of shares of the company "Kviza-Trade" (which owns the "Velyka Kyshenya" supermarket chain). Before that, the company "XXI Century" sold 35% of its shares on the London Stock Exchange for $139 million.

Erik Naiman, Head of the Financial Instruments Issuance Department at "Ukrsotsbank," believes that LUAZ will be able to raise "from $20 to $22 million" for 10% of its shares.

It is not hard to guess what the attracted resources will be spent on. Back in May of last year, LUAZ announced its intention to expand capacity for bus production and to organize the production of passenger cars and trucks.

Vitaliy Horovyi, Head of the Analytical Department at the Ukrainian Stock Center, suggests that 10% of LUAZ will cost approximately the same: "about $20 million." He recalled that at the upcoming shareholders' meeting on February 15, the plant plans to significantly increase its charter capital – by UAH 648 million, or 4.5 times. "This could affect the value of the stake in the direction of it becoming more expensive," the expert believes. According to his data, not only external but also internal investors are interested in investing money in LUAZ, inspired by the plant's good performance indicators.

The plant's most popular product is buses of the "Bohdan" brand. Over the past year, their sales nearly doubled (2,060 units in 2005 and 1,120 in 2004). At the same time, exports accounted for a significantly large share of sales. "Bohdan" buses are mostly bought in Belarus (18 units) and in Russia (125 units).

The "Bohdan" Corporation and the Lutsk Automobile Plant are part of the "Ukrprominvest" group of companies, which is controlled by former Secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. This is not the first time Poroshenko has had to part with some of his property. At the end of last year, he sold his bank "Mriya" to one of Russia's largest banks, "Vneshtorgbank."

Printed in the newspaper "DELO" No. 57 of January 17, 2006.

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