February 24 (SeeNews) - The Croatian government is seeking support to build up on a project funded by the European Commission for developing a framework for the activation and commercialisation of non-operating assets in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said.
The project is supported by Commission's Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP) and aims to enhance the authorities’ capacity in registration and activation of the SOEs' non-operating assets in companies classified of special interest and in companies majority owned by the state, the EBRD said in a statement over the weekend.
For the purpose, the EBRD plans to engage a consultant to help the Croatian state assets ministry and the country's Centre for Restructuring and Privatisation (CERP) to develop a framework for identification and registration and an overarching commercialisation strategy.
Expressions of interest can be sent by March 20, the EBRD said.
The project is expected to start in April, with an estimated duration of 18 months. Its cost is estimated at 285,300 euro ($309,000), excluding VAT, and will be financed by SRSP.
State-owned firms play an important role in the Croatian economy but the value of their assets is considerably higher than that in other Central and East European states while they are being considerably less profitable, the EBRD noted.
"Today a number of SOEs in Croatia have a significant portfolio of non-operating assets, for instance a number of real estates such as abandoned construction sites that have been out of use for decades despite potential interest of private sector for commercial utilization. Such assets are no longer required in the day-to-day operations and do not currently generate general cash flow for business," it added.
($=0.924592 euro)