BRATISLAVA, January 12, (WEBNOVINY) — Members of Iveta Radicova’s Cabinet did not debate the potential sale of some state-run companies on Wednesday. The material was put off until the next Cabinet session since it requires more discussions and preparations, Transport Minister Jan Figel explained after the Cabinet session.
Privatization agency the National Property Fund (FNM) has suggested selling several companies where the state has certain interest. Pursuant to a report on the functioning of companies where the FNM has a stake, the Cabinet is recommended to sell the six largest heating utilities, the stakes in seventeen companies of the bus transport operator Slovenska Autobusova Doprava, the Bratislava Stock Exchange, the company DMD Group Trencin, the state’s stake in the telecommunications operator Slovak Telekom, shares in spa companies Sliac and Bardejov, and the polyclinic Poliklinika Tehelna Bratislava.
The report is an informative material. It will not be crucial for the decision whether the concerned firms will be privatized. It is just an information report, stipulating certain options, acknowledged by the Cabinet. In no way is this a concrete decision on privatization, elaborated State Secretary at the Economy Ministry Martin Chren.
The FNM has proposed to sell the 100-percent stakes in the heating utilities in Trnava, Zilina, Kosice, Martin, Bratislava and Zvolen in contests inviting international players. This procedure with the price set as the core criterion will maximize the price and increase quality and quantity of potential investors, representing maximum possible proceeds for the state in case of its 100-percent stakes as well as the opportunity to pick an investor with optimal conditions to manage the company and have full responsibility for its development, writes the FNM in the report.
On the other hand, the fund did not outline any plans for the company Letisko M. R. Stefanika-Airport Bratislava, water utilities or natural monopolies, for instance, power distribution companies, the dominant power producer Slovenske Elektrarne, the gas utility Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel and the national electricity transmission network operator Slovenska Eelektrizacna Prenosova Sustava (SEPS).
For the time being, the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic is not considering the sale of companies where it holds stakes. It controls 100 percent in the nuclear decommissioning company JAVYS and the crude oil pipeline operator Transpetrol and a 34-percent stake in Slovak Telekom. All of these companies have been reporting positive economic results and positive return on equity in the long run. The results of the given companies do not show an urgent need for their privatization, stated the department in its report.
SITA