Cyprus privatisations to be ongoing, Cyta first

The Cyprus council of ministers set out the roadmap for the privatisation of government services and enterprises that will take three to four years to conclude, with the first being the state-owned telecom operator Cyta.

Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said that the cabinet unanimously adopted the finance minister’s proposal based on the memorandum of understanding agreed with the Troika of international lenders in November 2012.
The roadmap sets out the timeframe for the privatisation framework, with the employees involved throughout the process, including that of the corporatisation of the public entities, while the same model will not be adopted for all organisations that will be reviewed separately.
Stylianides said that there is a provision that will ensure national security, especially in areas where essential services are provided to the public. He added that the participation of the workers in any potential share issue “is not out of the question.”
The spokesman said that there was no decision for the full privatisation of any of the semi-government organisations.
In the meantime, the administration is also considering alternative sources of revenue, such as the interim casino license that will allow the operator to start working immediately, prior to designing and building a leisure resort. Other alternatives include the sale of non-core state owned assets or shares in public companies, while a number of SGOs that have passed their prime will be closed down.
According to the MoU agreed with the Troika, Cyprus needs to secure about 1.4 bln euros from privatisations from 2014 to 2016, as part of the deal for the 10 bln bailout.