August 30 (SeeNews) - Croatia's centre for enterprise restructuring and privatisation, CERP, said it has launched the sale of minority state-owned stakes in 30 local companies.
The move is part of the government's plan to put up for sale its minority stakes in at least 90 companies in three waves by the middle of next year as part of preparations to adopt the euro.
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The state-owned stakes in the first batch of 30 companies will be offered for sale via public auctions, as all interested bidders should apply to participate in the auction no later than seven days ahead of its planned date, CERP said in a statement earlier this week.
They should also pay ahead a guarantee equivalent to 10% of the offered stake's initial price in order to participate in the auction, the statement said.
The selected buyer should sign a purchase agreement within three days following the auction.
The offered stakes range from 0.00003% in plastic products maker Straza Plastika, offered at a starting price of 280 kuna, to 14.81% in printing company Tribina, offered at a starting price of 18,900 kuna.
The government has set the highest starting price of 1.6 million kuna ($239,000/216,000 euro) for its 0.17% holdings in shipping company Tankerska Plovidba, while for the 0.7% stake in tourism company Laguna Novigrad the minimum ask price is 1.56 million kuna.
For the state's 1.68% in hotel operator Hoteli Kolocep, CERP is seeking a minimum of 783,510 kuna, while all other stakes are offered at less than 300,000.
Twenty auctions will be held on September 19, eight auctions on September 30 and two auctions - for the stakes in Tankerska Plovidba and Laguna, will be staged on October 14.
In July, the Croatian authorities sent a letter of intent to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II), the first formal step towards adopting the euro, committing to carry out the privatisation of minority state stakes in 90 local companies as part of the preparations for the eurozone entry.
The government hopes that Croatia will join ERM II in about a year. The mechanism ensures that exchange rate fluctuations between the euro and other EU currencies do not disrupt economic stability within the single market. It also helps non euro-area countries to prepare for joining the euro area. The whole process of joining the euro area is expected to take at least four years to complete, including the two-year mandatory stay in ERM II.
(1 euro = 7.40238 kuna)