TALLINN - The government decided last week that minority shares of strategically important infrastructure companies such as Estonian Energy (Eesti Energia), Tallinn Harbor (Tallinna Sadam) and Estonian Post (Eesti Post) would not be listed on the local stock exchange any time in the near future.
"A decision was made during the government session that there was no need - in the current coalition - to privatize important state owned objects," said Martin Jasko, the government's media councilor.
Government officials were emphatic about the decision, saying there was no need for the Ministry of Economy and Communications to analyze the necessity of a sell off of the above-mentioned companies.
The previous Cabinet, which included the right-wing Res Publica party, had first floated the idea of privatizing these stakes. Res Publica chief Taavi Veskimagi, a former finance minister, had suggested last spring to list shares of Estonian Energy and Tallinn Harbor. He said he regretted the government's decision to drop the plans, particularly without any analyses.
"The government was probably afraid of positive arguments that might appear during analyses, and could jeopardize their state-centered minds and politics," he told The Baltic Times.
Listing shares would, in his opinion, give Estonians an opportunity to invest their savings and strengthen the stability of their economy, Veskimagi aruged. It also helps avoid populist decisions based on short-term views.
According to Veskimagi, it was no less important to offer private investors and pension funds a wider choice of financial instruments on financial markets.
"I do not support the privatization of strategic state owned companies, but the listing of minority stakes only," said Veskimagi.
This way, he explained, the government would not give away strategic control, but guarantee better effectiveness and transparency of large corporations. Rules set by the stock exchange would, in his opinion, guarantee that companies operate according to economic logic and not clandestine aims (a reference to the current coalition's shady deals in energy, harbor and Riigi Kinnisvara AS, which controls state owned real estate).
Laur Kaljuvee, broker at Sampo, said he supported the listing of such companies. "The broader the option [of companies on exchange] the better," he said.
