Turkmenistan to launch privatization of state-held assets soon
2013-01-15 17:45:47
Turkmenistan will launch a privatization of state-held assets in its tightly regulated economy in coming months but looks set to keep control of the vital oil and gas industry, officials said on Saturday, reported Reuters.
"I have just signed an order to approve Turkmenistan's privatization programme for 2013-16," state media quoted President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov as telling an enlarged government meeting on Friday.
"Sell-offs of some state companies will start already at the beginning of this year," he said without giving a time frame.
The President made no mention of the oil and gas sector in a country which sits on the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves.
A government official told Reuters on Saturday, requesting anonymity, that the sector would remain under state control.
The government has compiled a list of other "strategic companies of national significance" which will not be privatized, the official said.
He said sell-offs would primarily target transport, communications and construction assets.