Privatization of small enterprises nearing completion
The privatization of small businesses in Azerbaijan
is close to completion, and the process of transferring
medium-sized and larger businesses to private hands will assume a
greater scale after that, the chairman of the newly-established
State Committee on Property Issues has said.
Karam Hasanov said, during a meeting with the heads of privatization bodies of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states in Baku last week, that 75 percent of the 32 million privatization shares distributed among the Azerbaijani population have been removed from circulation. That figure will reach 80 percent by the end of 2009.
Hasanov emphasized that some 42,000 small businesses have turned into property of special types, while about 1,600 medium and large entities have become joint-stock companies since privatization began in Azerbaijan 14 years ago. As a result of these activities, a class of more than 500,000 private business owners has been formed in the country. Over 500,000 people have been provided with jobs in the privatized enterprises, while the total number of citizens who benefited from privatization amounts to 1.2 million in the country of over 8 million. Funds amounting to $447 million have been channeled into the businesses privatized through investment tenders, with another $350m to be invested in the years to come.
The main goal of the ECO meeting, which drew officials from Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, was to exchange experiences in the field of privatization among the group`s members and explore avenues for closer cooperation.
Karam Hasanov said, during a meeting with the heads of privatization bodies of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states in Baku last week, that 75 percent of the 32 million privatization shares distributed among the Azerbaijani population have been removed from circulation. That figure will reach 80 percent by the end of 2009.
Hasanov emphasized that some 42,000 small businesses have turned into property of special types, while about 1,600 medium and large entities have become joint-stock companies since privatization began in Azerbaijan 14 years ago. As a result of these activities, a class of more than 500,000 private business owners has been formed in the country. Over 500,000 people have been provided with jobs in the privatized enterprises, while the total number of citizens who benefited from privatization amounts to 1.2 million in the country of over 8 million. Funds amounting to $447 million have been channeled into the businesses privatized through investment tenders, with another $350m to be invested in the years to come.
The main goal of the ECO meeting, which drew officials from Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, was to exchange experiences in the field of privatization among the group`s members and explore avenues for closer cooperation.
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
Subscribe
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!