Romania announces stock exchange privatisations, but no schedule
The Romanian state is seeking to raise 600 million
euros from privatisations, without however having a schedule for
Stock Exchange listings. What chances does it have when Poland and
Austria are coming up with concrete plans of privatisation worth
billions of euros?
Poland raised 8 billion euros from privatisations in three years,
by honouring its promises and by planning asset sales ahead. In
Bucharest, rumours have been the only thing to go by in the past
few years.
The Warsaw government learned the lesson of privatising by
scheduling asset sales through multi-annual strategies, direct
contact with foreign investors and by using diplomats to promote
projects.
Romania, pressured by the IMF is discovering the need to privatise,
after in the last few years local officials repeatedly promised the
Stock Exchange privatisation of energy companies without coming up
with a calendar or a privatisation strategy. The only official
information is that stakes of 10% in Petrom and of 15% in each of
Transgaz (gas transmission company) and Transelectrica (electricity
transmission company) could be sold on the Stock Exchange at some
point this year.
Competition over investors' money is however extremely high, with
Poland scheduling 4 billion euros' worth of privatising for this
year, and Austria planning to sell 24 billion euros' worth of
stakes on the Vienna Stock Exchange over the next few years.
"We are competing over resources with countries in the region as
far as companies' privatisation through the capital market is
concerned. For 2011 projects, Poland has a privatisation schedule
since 2008, which it has strictly followed. From secondary
offerings of shares of Petrom, Transgaz and Transelectrica, the
Romanian state could raise 600 million euros in 2011," said
Laurenţiu Ciocârlan, manager of the Primary Offerings department of
brokerage firm Raiffeisen Capital&Invest.