ZAGREB, Jan 16 (Hina) - At its session on Thursday the government dismissed claims that Croatia was being sold to foreigners, saying it had a strategy for privatisation but that the pace of that process should be accelerated.
ZAGREB, Jan 16 (Hina) - At its session on Thursday the government
dismissed claims that Croatia was being sold to foreigners, saying
it had a strategy for privatisation but that the pace of that
process should be accelerated. #L#
"In these three years (since the government came into power) the
privatisation was not a sale," Vice Premier Slavko Linic said.
He said the government was not satisfied with the sale process
because there was not enough private capital and private
initiatives in the takeover of companies. "Foreigners are very
cautious in entering privatisation and their response is low,"
Linic said at the government session on the management of state
portfolio and privatisation.
Linic backed his claims with numbers.
In the last three years, 1,044 stock packages were privatised and
the majority was sold at the Zagreb and Varazdin stock markets.
Financial markets mostly sold stocks of companies in which the
state owns less than 25 percent.
Since the coalition government came into power at the start of 2000
up until late last year, 31 companies were privatised through
public bids for tenders. Of 31 sold companies, eight were purchased
by foreigners, Linic said.
The government members agreed the privatisation process should be
implemented as soon and as efficiently as possible. They voiced
dissatisfaction with the conduct of management and supervising
boards and particularly pointed to the problem of managing state-
owned real state.
(hina) it sb