Shipping company's privatization to start

RIGA (BNS) - The privatization ball will finally start rolling at the Latvian Shipping Company, also known as LASCO, in 1999, said Viktors Sadinovs, juristic director of the Latvian Privatization Agency.

Sadinovs said once the government decides whether it wants to attract private capital or not for the company's privatization, other procedures, such as a public offering of shares, could be started.

He stressed, however, the speed of the process depends on whether the new LPA council considers and accepts the draft privatization terms prepared by the LPA board.

The previous LPA council decided in December not to consider LASCO's privatization project, leaving the work for the new council, which has no been approved yet.

The draft privatization terms worked out by the board envisage attracting private capital to LASCO in the amount of 25 percent of the company's share capital. The plans then call for selling 10 percent of the state-held shares to a strategic investor. The company's share capital is 200 million lats ($350.9 million).

Tufton Oceanic and Lavinia Consortium have been approved as the potential strategic investors thus far.

Latvian Prime Minister Vilis Kristopans initially voiced a negative attitude toward private capital for LASCO but announced late in December that the strategic investor into the company should be picked from a broad circle of bidders instead of from just two candidates.

The shipping company ended the first nine months of 1998 with a $2.8 million loss.