TIRANA, Jan. 13 – Having failed to make any strategic privatizations in the few remaining state-owned assets, Albania is offering more than 100 smaller assets for privatization. The economy ministry has announced two privatization packages which include 110 state-owned small assets such as former school and warehouse facilities.
The privatization list includes important assets in Tirana and Durres which can be renovated to house businesses.
The lists are published at a time when privatization revenue during the past couple of years have been at a record low following the sale of four small and medium-sized hydropower plants in 2013 to Turkey’s Kurum for around 110 million euros.
The Albanian government plans to sell off minority stakes in key enterprises and privatize key remaining strategic enterprises by 2017.
The government has announced new plans to offer 100 percent of Albpetrol’s shares for 95 million euros in 2016 in a move which is not favoured by international oil prices standing at a 12-year low. The 16.7 percent state-owned shares in Albtelecom operator are valued at 26.6 million euros while the 15 percent stake in ARMO oil refiner at 22 million euros. Both tenders are scheduled for 2017.
The government also planned to collect 7.3 million euros from INSIG’s privatization in 2015 but failed to sell the only state-run insurer which also operates in neighboring Kosovo and Macedonia.
The Albanian government has collected more than 90 bln lek (USD 833 mln, Euro 632 mln) from the privatization of state-owned assets since the early 90s when the country’s 47-year communist regime collapsed.
A study shows that most privatization revenues were collected during the past decade from the sale of key assets in the banking, telecommunication and energy sectors. What’s particular about privatizations in Albania in the post 2000 period is that they have peaked in general elections years or pre-election years such as in 2001, in 2004 and in 2009. The study finds out that privatization revenues in these years have covered 20 to 30 percent of budget deficit.
In its 2014 Transition Report, London-based EBRD says little progress has occurred in strategic privatizations. “Although privatization is largely complete in Albania, there are still a number of companies where significant state shares remain, some of them in strategic sectors such as energy, natural resources and telecommunications.”
