By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan's State Committee on Property Issues announced the date of next auction for privatization of the state-owned properties.

The auction to be held on December 6 will feature 100 objects of state property, namely, 26 joint stock companies, 50 small enterprises and properties and 24 vehicles. The report reads that 14 out of 50 small objects of state property will be offered for privatization together with the land.

These enterprises and properties are located in the Nizami, Surakhani, Sabunchu, Garadag, Khazar, Binagadi and Pirallahi districts of Baku, in the cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Yevlakh and Sumgait, as well as in other regions of the country.

The most expensive small state enterprises to be put up for auction together with the land is the property complex in Balakan region with an area of 89,500 square meters, and the "Performance Management on Technological Equipment" Ltd. with an area of up to 4,130 square meters. Their cost are one million manats and 1,075 million manats respectively.

As for the joint stock companies, the privatization auction will feature only 30-45 percent of their shares. These enterprises operate in the fields of construction, repair, industry, cotton, poultry, agro-chemistry, transportation, processing and other.

A total of 19 state-owned properties out of 101 have been sold at the previous auction of November 1, while 31 state properties were sold at the auction of October 25.

The third stage of privatization started in the framework of the decree dated May 19, 2016 by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on additional measures to improve the process of state property privatization, as well as the presidential Decree from July 19, 2016, on some measures to improve the management efficiency and accelerate privatization of state property.

Under the decree, the acceleration of the state property privatization process has been defined as an important direction of the economic policy.

The portal for privatization – privatization.az, launched in July 2016, reflects all necessary information about the facilities, their addresses, location, and even initial cost and aims at facilitation of the process. The website is available in two languages - Azerbaijani and English. “Why Azerbaijan is special” section available on the website explains the reasons and advantages of investing in the country.

The privatization process is designed to attract both foreign and local investors, as well as improve the business environment of Azerbaijan.