Privatization of Lasta and Petrohemija in Preparation

By the end of June, the Ministry of Economy should open the tenders for the privatization of Lasta and Petrohemija, which means that, in the upcoming months, slightly over 3,000 employees at these companies might get a new owner.

The state is not giving up on looking for potential buyers or strategic partners for companies which it is responsible for, of which there are slightly more than 70 according to the most recent data, Blic writes.

Of these, for at least 30 of them, it is not certain when the sale is to be advertised, due to the unresolved property-legal, court or other problems. What is certain is that, by the end of the year, at least five strategically important companies are to enter the privatization process, and Lasta and Petrohemija are first on the list.

For them, according to Blic’s findings, nearly everything is ready for the tenders to be opened in the upcoming months, because the privatization advisers are bringing the preparation of the necessary documentation to a close, and it is up to the Ministry of Economy to define the way and the conditions by which they could attract potential buyers or strategic partners.

As for the conditions, they pertain to the price, the employees’ status, but also the investments. Whether the companies that have shown an interest in the past period during the talks with representatives of the authorities are to respond to the public invitation depends on those conditions.

The trade unions at these companies have different findings about the opening of the tenders. At Lasta, they are not familiar with the plans, whereas, in Petrohemija, they say that they have findings that the tender for that company should be opened in the upcoming months.

The Ministry of Economy declined to make an official comment, but, unofficially, it was said that the plan was for at least four large companies, Lasta and Petrohemija included, to get new owners by the end of the year.

Ministarstvo privrede Republike Srbije

Lasta a.d. Beograd

HIP-Petrohemija a.d. Pančevo

Ministry of Economy

Lasta

Petrohemija

privatization of Lasta

privatization of Petrohemija