Does Government Refuse of Privatization of Aztelecom?

Today the official press published the announcement of the transformation of the Production Association Aztelecom to a limited liability company of the same name. The corresponding decree was signed on June 22, the head of the State Committee for Property Affairs (SCPA) Kerem Hasanov said.

Converting Aztelecom to LLC is the actual abandonment of the privatization of the telecom giant of Azerbaijan.

Recall that on March 29, 2001 a presidential decree was signed by Heydar Aliyev "On opening privatization of communication enterprises» (http://e-qanun.az/alpidata/framework/data/4/f_4528.htm). According to this document, SCPA was ordered to privatize Aztelecom by individual project. It took 14 years, but concrete steps in this direction have not been taken.

The press service of SCPA told Turan that the initiative to transform Aztelecom LLC was received from the leadership of this organization. The legal department of Aztelecom in turn pointed out that there is a document that requires a determination of the legal form of a state enterprise into a joint-stock company, or LLC.

The Second State Program of Privatization of State Property (August 2000) suggests exposure of above 51 per cent stake in state-owned enterprises, which are important to the economy, for privatization by individual projects. Only joint stock companies can issue shares under the Civil Code.

Note that, as a rule, such documents of SCPA (reorganization of SOEs) also define authorized capital of the commercial organization. However SCPA and LLC Aztelecom refused to disclose the size of capital. On the Aztelecom corporate website there is a section Financial Statements. However, the transition to it (http://www.aztelekom.org/2400) is empty. -----08B