This time the auction format will be changed, the Prozorro.Sales website reports. Previously, the government tried to sell the port in a traditional English auction format with a gradual increase in the starting price.
However, on August 23, a hybrid Dutch auction is scheduled. It involves a step-by-step decrease in the starting price of the lot until one of the participants stops the decline. Next is a stage of closed price offers: other participants can offer a price higher than the fixed one. The winner is the one who offered the highest amount. However, the participant who stopped the decline in the first stage has the right to the last move and can beat the opponent’s maximum price in the third stage.
The port was planned to be privatized even before the war. The sixth auction scheduled for August 15 did not occur due to a lack of participants. The starting price of the lot was UAH 92.45M ($2.52M) – half of the initial price.