Advice on privatisation
Project description
Title: Advice on privatisation
Commissioned by: Advice on privatisationFederal Ministry of Finance (BMF)
Country: Azerbaijan, Cuba, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Namibia, Russia, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam
Lead executing agency: Azerbaijan: State Committee for Property Issues (SCPI); Georgia: National Agency of State Property (NASP); Kosovo: Independent Commission for Mines and Minerals (ICMM); Cuba: Ministry of Finance and Prices; Moldova: Public Property Agency (PPA); Namibia: Ministry of Public Enterprises (MPE); Russia: Property committees of the Russian Duma, committee for social development of the Russian Duma; Uzbekistan: The State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for assistance to privatized enterprises and development of competition (GKK), National Agency for Project Management (NAPM); Viet Nam: Ministry of Finance (MoF)
Overall term: 2016 to 2019
Context
On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is implementing the Advice on Privatisation project. This entails strengthening the capacities of institutions in different countries with regard to the issues of privatisa-tion, property management and holdings management. The aim is to achieve the efficient and transparent management of public assets in line with international standards. The advisory services are based on experience from Germany, for example from the Treuhandanstalt (the agency that privatised the East German enterprises) and from the planned partial privatisation of Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Telekom and Deutsche Post. The project currently supports institutions in Azerbaijan, Cuba, Georgia, Kosovo, Moldova, Namibia, Russia, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam.
Objective
Performance in the management and privatisation of state-owned companies in accordance with international standards has improved.
Approach
The advisory services focus on effective holdings management, training supervisory board members, restructuring, privatisation, property management, company valuation and public-private partnership.
The basic principles applied include national regulations such as the Federal Budget Code and the principles of good corporate governance and holdings management. The project also takes account of international standards such as the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance and the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises.
Results
In the nine countries in which it is providing advice, the project is at varying stages with regard to hold-ings management and privatisation. Here are some examples of tangible results:
- Development of an IT-supported contract management system (CMS) in Azerbaijan: The CMS that has been developed supports the SCPI in Azerbaijan in monitoring and implementing contracts, increasing both the efficiency and the transparency of privatisation processes. The next step planned is to apply the CMS in other states, too, based on a bilateral and multilateral exchange of experience with Azerbaijan.
- Amended laws in Uzbekistan: In cooperation with the partners in Uzbekistan, the law on limited com-panies, privatisation law and the associated subsequent regulations have been amended based on international standards. Particular attention was paid here to the aspects of transparency, protection of the interests of members, liability and publication obligations.
- Workshop in Cuba: In Cuba each year, exchange takes place between the Cuban Ministry of Finance and the German Federal Ministry of Finance. The parties share a wide range of experiences relating to privatisation in the dialogue format and use this as a basis for further action. In 2019, for example, a workshop was held in Havana on the valuation of tangible and intangible assets.