A tender selling 99% of the Odessa Portside Plant stock is going on, a source at the Ukrainian State Property Fund reported on Monday.

"The fund continues to obtain bids. Today comes the deadline for the submission of bids," the source noted.

The Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko insists on selling the stock in the set time, and the probability of several bids is high, a government source mentioned recently.

"The smallest number of bids is one. But chances are high to have more bidders," he added.

A bidder transferred a million UAH as collateral, he admitted.

The fund announced the tender on July 15, 2009. The start price is 4 billion UAH. The tender was due to be held during 75 days after its announcement.

Apart from chemical products, the port plant situated at the end of an ammonia pipeline from Russia is the monopoly handler of ammonia. About 94% of plant production is exported.

Net losses of the plant estimate to 38 million UAH in January-June 2009, while the company had net benefit of UAH 349 million the year before. Net revenues are 44% down, to 945 million  UAH.

President of Ukraine Victor Yuschenko suspended the government resolution of the plant privatization on September 18. The Kyiv Administrative Court suspended the selling of the plant stock in fulfillment of the lawsuits of the Cherkassy Azot Plant and former head of the State Property Fund Valentyna Semenyuk-Samsonenko.
At the same time, Tymoshenko, the Justice Ministry and the State Property Fund reported that the privatization has to go on and the tender will be held on the set date - September 29. Azot dropped the lawsuit on September 21.

In general, 13 companies made applications to the Ukrainian Anti-Monopoly Committee to buy the plant.