Musavat expert expects privatization to take 5 more years

The process of privatization in Azerbaijan will take five more years, as denationalization of the hundreds of enterprises mentioned in a recent presidential decree cannot take place overnight, says chairman of Musavat’s economic commission Gubad Ibadoglu.

According to him, some of the privatization-bound enterprises are economically lucrative and holders of vouchers should keep an eye on them. The problem is that the term of vouchers will not be extended and since 2002 they will hardly be worth the paper they are printed on.

In general, vouchers are being used in Azerbaijan much less effectively than elsewhere. In Czech Republic, for instance, 50% of vouchers were utilized on the first stage, in Kyrgyzstan 35%, while in Azerbaijan only 11% have been used so far, he said.

Mr. Ibadoglu is Doctor of Economics from Warsaw Economic University. He has majored in privatization in post-Soviet countries.*