Latvia planning to privatise telecoms companies

Dec 2, 2010, 11:45 GMT

Riga - Latvia could complete the privatisation of several key state assets by the end of 2011, Finance Minister Andris Vilks said Thursday.

'It is clear that we have to start thinking about selling the state holdings in such companies as Lattelecom and Latvijas Mobilais Telefons (LMT),' Vilks was quoted as saying by the Baltic News Service.

Lattelecom is Latvia's largest telecoms company while LMT is the leading mobile phone operator.

Vilks justified the move on ideological as well as financial grounds, saying that 'to own businesses is not one of the functions of the state.'

Some state assets could be put on the market in early 2011 with a sale completed by the end of the year, he suggested.

The government has already compiled a comprehensive list of state assets in order to evaluate which might be sold off to help balance the national budget and ensure compliance with the terms of a 7.5- billion-euro (10-billion-dollar) bailout loan provided by the International Monetary Fund, European Union and other lenders.

Citadele bank - formerly known as Parex - was nationalized after a run on the bank in 2008 and is already seeking buyers to help pay back the more than 1 billion dollars which the state spent to prevent its collapse.

State holdings in Lattelecom and LMT were almost sold to Swedish telecoms company TeliaSonera in 2008, but the deal ultimately collapsed.