Uzbekistan to launch privatisation drive in ‘99

Uzbekistan, hungry for foreign investment, will begin privatising many of its largest state companies next year, an official said on Wednesday. "From 1999, the government of Uzbekistan will begin selling off shares in companies involved in the basic sectors of the economy, and will do so with the participation of international consultants," a State Privatisation Committee official said. The cabinet had approved an order aimed at speeding up foreign investment through privatisation, he told Reuters. The former Soviet state has been slow in opening up its economy, allowing only a handful of Western firms to invest in some projects in the car making, gold and tobacco sectors. Discouraged by foreign exchange controls, foreign investors have been slow to pursue projects in the mostly farm state of 23 million people. The prize assets among the 30 companies set to go under the hammer in the next two years include a 46.5 percent stake in the Almalyk Metallurgical Plant copper producer, which could raise up to $400 million for state coffers. Almalyk, and companies such as the Tashkent Aviation Production Co, the National Bank of Foreign Economic Activity and the Uzkabel cable plant would be offered in 1999. In 2000, the sell-off list includes the Uzmetkombinat metallurgical plant, the Fergana oil refinery, Tashkent airport, the Elektrokhimprom chemicals group in Chirchik and the Kyzylkum Phosphorous Combine. The stakes in the 30 firms-- which would be valued by Western consultants-- will be sold off one by one, with shares of between 25 and 50 percent on offer. The government order includes a list of another 159 medium and large firms whose shares would be sold to foreigners on the stock and over-the-counter markets. Another 69 medium-sized companies would be sold off wholesale through tenders and investment transactions in 1999 and 2000, the state order said.