Government sends bill on state assets management to Sabor

The government on Thursday forwarded a bill into parliamentary procedure on state assets management which should facilitate a more efficient system of managing state property.

Deputy Prime Minister Branko Grcic explained that the bill would directly regulate the system already defined by the State Assets Management Strategy.

This should resolve numerous problems in property management and the use of state owned property where for example real estate can be found in various portfolios and often the value of that property is not even known, he said.

That has a negative impact on the investment climate and makes it difficult to pursue economic policies and we wish to make state-owned property available to future investments and at the service of the economy, he added.

State property management would be the responsibility of a state office for state-owned property management which would manage real estate and stakes in so-called strategic companies of which there are 55.

Minority shares in non-strategic companies that often resolve their problems with loans and leases at the expense of the budget - and there are more than 500 of these - said Grcic - will be transferred to the Sales and Restructuring Centre (CERP) and the Government Asset Management Agency (AUDIO) is to be shut down.

A government commission will also be set up to manage strategic companies while those companies where the state has minority shares will be sold, he said.

Grcic underscored that total costs of the entire system would be reduced as the number of staff would be downsized.

He explained that the bill would be put to urgent procedure so that by the end of September the entire system would be set up and functioning.

Finance Minister Slavko Linic underscored that one of the greatest problem was the huge public debt. A greater portion of property should be privatised as the private sector is more efficient and over the next five years revenue from privatisation will be the only source with which to contain public debt.

(Hina)



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