Kazakhstan's antimonopoly agency to gain more powers
Kazakhstan plans to enhance the authority of the Agency for
Competition Protection (an antimonopoly agency) to close the
state-owned enterprises competing in unfair conditions with the
private sector, Novosti-Kazakhstan reported on June 24.
Kazakhstan government has introduced a bill to the Parliament's
lower chamber on limiting the state's involvement in business
activities.
"This bill sets the principles of the so-called 'yellow pages
rule' used in Singapore, United States, Luxembourg and Norway. The
principles are exact and simple - the state-owned enterprises'
operations should be limited in the spheres where the private
sector can work," Minister of Regional Development Bolat Zhamishev
said.
The antimonopoly agency will permit or ban the opening of
state-owned enterprises after analyzing their markets.
The state- owned companies created earlier should be privatized
or liquidated if the agency decides that the area of their
activities is favorable for the private sector.
Moreover the Agency for Competition Protection will issue permits
for the state companies for working in certain spheres. This means
that the companies will not be allowed to work beyond these
spheres.
The bill toughens restrictions for creation of new state-owned
enterprises and their subsidiaries, as well as envisages mechanisms
of privatization and liquidation of the state-owned companies,
which were not created in line with these principles.
All these measures will eliminate the pressure of the public sector
on the private sector.