COUPON PRIVATISATION PROCESS ENDS; PUBLIC ENTERPRISES NEXT IN LINE

( Editorial: --> 5888 ) ZAGREB, Oct 5 (Hina) - All three rounds of coupon privatisation have been successfully completed and Croatia is now preparing for the reconstruction and privatisation of seven public enterprises. The Croatian public will be informed of the results of the privatisation process on October 26 and 27 at the international conference on the "Croatian model" of privatisation in Dubrovnik. Seven privatisation investment funds have been participating in coupon privatisation. About 11,500 Homeland War victims independently participated in the process. Participants have bought the shares of 471 firms. Privatisation Minister Milan Kovac said the Croatian Privatisation Fund (HFP) currently held company shares with a nominal value of between US$410 million and US$492 million. Kovac said that the HFP was obliged to give a share of the stocks to Reconstruction and Development Ministry. These stocks are used by this ministry to pay 30 per cent of the fees owed to contractors involved in works commissioned by this Ministry. In the third round of coupon privatisation, the owners of the coupons have been competing for the shares of 61 per cent of the companies, with 53 per cent of the capital spent on this. Kovac expects the funds to raise the price of the company shares which they own, in order to gain a return on what they had invested. This would be possible only by further investment and by attracting foreign strategic investors. Kovac believes that the company problems will be solved faster, because the new owners will have to seek solutions from the market. The coupon owners and the funds will receive the shares when the Privatisation Fund makes contracts on shares transaction, which could take a place in a month and a half. Thirteen thousand such contracts will have to be made. The coupon owners should register in the book of shareholders after they receive the contracts. Several coupon owners did not participate in the coupon privatisation either independently or through the funds, and their coupons are no longer valid. A certain amount of coupon owners received a solution to their rights to coupons after the final application deadline. Those coupon owners will receive their shares from the Croatian Privatisation Fund portfolio. The shares will be for sale after being listed on the Zagreb stock exchange and the Varazdin securities market. Kovac announced that the governing party would soon discuss the privatisation of seven public enterprises. However, the privatisation strategy would be determined by the Croatian National Parliament, through a majority vote, Kovac said. (Hina) it jn /mbr 051557 MET oct 98