ZAGREB, March 11 (Hina) - By the end of this month the Croatian Government and Deutsche Telekom can sign an agreement under which the German company will become the majority owner of the Croatian Telecommunications (HT) while the
Ivica Racan Cabinet should then postpone the public auction of the HT shares for autumn, a source close to the Croatian government told Hina on Sunday. Negotiations with the Deutsche Telekom are still under was, but we hope that on 30 March the document will be signed on the sale of 16 percent of HT shares to Germans who are offering some 600 million euro for it, a senior governmental official said on the condition of anonymity. According to him, the deal will stipulate that the DT may become the owner of HT shares but only after the public auction and not later than the end of this year. For weeks the public has specula
ZAGREB, March 11 (Hina) - By the end of this month the Croatian
Government and Deutsche Telekom can sign an agreement under which
the German company will become the majority owner of the Croatian
Telecommunications (HT) while the Ivica Racan Cabinet should then
postpone the public auction of the HT shares for autumn, a source
close to the Croatian government told Hina on Sunday.
Negotiations with the Deutsche Telekom are still under was, but we
hope that on 30 March the document will be signed on the sale of 16
percent of HT shares to Germans who are offering some 600 million
euro for it, a senior governmental official said on the condition of
anonymity.
According to him, the deal will stipulate that the DT may become the
owner of HT shares but only after the public auction and not later
than the end of this year.
For weeks the public has speculated on whether Zagreb will first
embark on the public bid for sale of at least 21 percent of HT shares
on the national and foreign markets or, owing to unfavourable
trends on world markets, it will sell a package of shares to the
German company which may then become the majority owner.
The Croatian government has announced that the auction may take
place in May, but the prices of telecommunication firms' shares
have fallen to the lowest in comparison to recent years, and it is
uncertain which price HT shares may reach at the auction.
Therefore Zagreb is conducting negotiations with the Deutsche
Telekom, which holds now 35 percent of HT shares and which offered
600 million euro for additional 16 percent last year.
According to proposed agreement, Germans will become the majority
owner by the end of this year, while the Croatian government will be
given more six months for waiting for the best time for the auction
sale, the unnamed government official explained.
Besides, the sale of the package of the shares to the Deutsche
Telekom will ensure some 60 percent of means which the Racan Cabinet
is planning to obtain from privatisation.
This year's budget is meant to have 8.5 billion kuna (less than one
billion US dollars) as the earnings from the privatisation of
state-run companies.
(hina) ms