TALLLINN - Prime Minister Andrus Ansip shifted the onus of responsibility for renationalizing Eesti Raudtee (Estonian Railway) onto Parliament, saying this week that lawmakers would have to make the final decision on whether the state should buy back the company.
As Parliament decided to privatize the railway, so must it decide whether the railway would have to be repurchased, Ansip said in response to lawmakers' questions on April 17.
Ansip said that, although Parliament would determine the repurchase, the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Communications was responsible for establishing a fair price. The ministry is currently at loggerheads with the management of Baltic Railway Services, the private company that owns 66 percent of Estonian Railway.
"In fact, the main issue currently lies in the price," Ansip stressed. "Buying back the railway can be discussed if the price is fair and acceptable to the state or the Estonian taxpayer."
Talks between the ministry and Baltic Rail Services on a price broke down earlier this year, with ministry officials offering 2.1 billion kroons and BRS shareholders gunning for 2.5 billion.
Many politicians believe the company should not have been privatized, and that the state should reacquire the asset, even if it means giving BRS owners a bold asking price. Economy Minister Edgar Savisaar, however, has said the state would not overpay under any circumstances.
Ansip, a member of the Reform Party, emphasized that, in principle, he did not regard the privatization of majority shares in Estonian Railway as a mistake, but said the methods by which it was carried out was a mistake.
He said privatization officials committed an error with the so-called golden share, which gives a stronger say to the holder 's in this case, the Estonian state 's even though it may not be in agreement with European Union law. Ansip said the railway privatization adviser knew about the potential incompatibility of the golden share with European law but had failed to tell this to decision-makers.
Last week it was reported that three potential investors 's Transgroup Invest, a company belonging to Estonian nationals, Russia's Prominvestors and Germany's Deutsche Bahn 's expressed interest in purchasing a controlling stake in Estonian Railways.
