Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Kazakh National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna will put more than 200 companies up for sale as part of its privatization program.

The news was announced by chairman of the Board of Samruk-Kazyna Umirzak Shukeyev on April 14.

He noted privatization will include those companies that compete with private companies in the market or do not have strategic importance, are not related to matters of national security, and have no social significance.

"Therefore, we have now put 209 out of our 599 companies up for sale. Of those, 103 companies are for sale within the privatization program, 50 companies are put up for sale together with second-tier banks, 54 companies are to be eliminated, and 20 more will be re-organized and handed over to state agencies," Shukeyev said.

Ownership interests in 93 companies will be sold through an auction with the possible involvement of strategic investors, while 10 companies will be put on the stock market, including in the framework of the People's IPO program.

"We will make every effort to implement the program in time. However, delays are possible due to a number of factors; for example, the inclusion of companies on the IPO will depend on market conditions and the realization of assets - the willingness of the private sector to purchase the offered assets. Moreover, the dates and methods of privatization can be adjusted in the future," Shukeyev said.

He also said the fund intended to work on the privatization of its assets as transparently as possible, and publish data on the implementation of the program on a regular basis.

Economy and Budget Planning Minister Erbolat Dossayev said the list of quasi-public sector organizations awaiting privatization will be determined at the government's April meeting.

The list primarily includes 32 organizations of republican ownership, some 586 facilities of communal properties, and 191 organizations belonging to the holdings structure, Dossayev said.

Different packages of shares and ownership interests in 103 subsidiaries of the Samruk-Kazyna Group are planned to be offered the market in 2014-2016. These companies are those which are parts of Kazakhstan Temir Joly JSC NC, KazMunaiGas JSC, Kazatomprom JSC, Samruk-Energo JSC, KEGOC JSC, Kazakhstan Engineering JSC, Maikainzoloto JSC, and others.