The development strategy now worked out for the power-engineering sector by the Ministry of the Economy is also a matter of importance for the Ministry of the Treasury as well as privatization plans of companies, which the Minister of the Treasury is in control of as owner. As the Minister of the Treasury I expect that the strategy will envisage full and proper privatization of the power-engineering sector. I do not think that elementary competition on the electricity market is at all feasible without full privatization. That is why we intend to privatize companies in the sector in such a manner as to avoid replacing the state monopoly with a possibly worse private monopoly. Hence the selection of strategic investors and privatisation paths will be such as to ensure the fullest competition in this sector.
The Enea energy group is making its final preparations to go public. After its issue prospectus is approved, the group will enter the security market before the end of this year. Preparing power-engineering companies for stock-exchange debut is a formidable task. I wish to say very clearly – the fact that these companies will go public and will be privatized through the stock exchange does not mean that we intend to allow branch investors to get involved in the privatization processes in such a way as to take control over these groups. The privatisation timetables are to be proposed by our privatisation consultants. We are determined to carry out full privatisation and to find such branch investors who will involve themselves in the privatisation processes and supply the necessary capital.
As regards investments and take-overs within the framework of state-owned companies – there are a number of companies which have their plans in that respect. If they manage to persuade shareholders and the Ministry of the Treasury in favour of their projects, then we will analyse what they propose and issue appropriate decisions. Companies may suggest involvement in different kinds of undertakings, but we will make decisions when their plans are supported by serious analyses, when we know what investors intend to do with the given company after taking it over.
The Minister of the Environment is contemplating changing the rules of setting CO2 emission limits. I think that the documents presented to him by the Ministry of the Treasury will convince him that as the energy sector is on the eve of privatization, it must for many reasons be allotted adequate CO2. limits. This is because we do not want to lower the value of these companies while we are about to privatise them.