The head of the State Property Fund spoke about the “pimps of state property” who have controlled enterprises for years
Dmytro Natalukha, head of the State Property Fund of Ukraine, stated that his team has faced widespread resistance from individuals who have controlled state-owned enterprises for years and profited from them.
According to him, an informal management system had developed around state assets over the years, accompanied by sabotage, information leaks, and pressure on reformers.
“When you take away a ‘feeding trough’ that has been operating for decades, it’s clear that you won’t be receiving flowers in return. Unless they’re black and come in pairs,” Natalukha noted.
He claims that he received threats after demanding financial reports and audit results, and also faced resistance from within the State Property Fund itself.
“We spent the first few months specifically on overcoming this resistance and stopping the leak of information to third parties interested in ensuring that management at specific facilities would not change and that these facilities would not be transferred for privatization,” he stated.
The head of the State Property Fund emphasized that in some cases, state-owned enterprises were effectively under the control of informal groups.
“These so-called ‘pimps of state property’ have effectively privatized enterprises through their management and, for years—if not decades—have been pocketing the profits while shifting the risks and losses onto the state,” Natalukha said.
According to him, this system allowed interested parties to influence personnel decisions, financial flows, and access to internal information at state-owned enterprises.
He also emphasized that resistance to reforms remains systemic and continues to this day, and that its source is not only former managers but also a segment of the private sector.
Separately, Natalukha drew attention to cases where minority shareholders block management at enterprises where the state holds a controlling stake.
“We have several cases… where a private minority shareholder has done everything possible, both legally and administratively, to ensure that the state, which holds a controlling stake, is effectively deprived of control over this enterprise,” he noted.
The head of the State Property Fund did not name specific companies, explaining that efforts to restore control are still ongoing, but he assured that the case involves a profitable monopoly enterprise, and that they plan to resolve the situation in the near future.
He spoke about this in an interview with “Glavkom.”
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