Kosovo has once again scrapped the privatisation of its telco PTK following the failure of parliamentarians to reach a quorum needed for the deal to proceed.
A 30 December deadline to sign the deal was missed and could not be extended, according to a…
Kosovo has once again scrapped the privatisation of its telco PTK following the failure of parliamentarians to reach a quorum needed for the deal to proceed.
A 30 December deadline to sign the deal was missed and could not be extended, according to a ministry of economic development statement.
The move follows a string of delays in the sale process, which had been restarted in July 2012. An earlier privatisation attempt was cancelled in late 2011 following corruption allegations against senior management.
Germany’s Axos Capital and the US’ Najafi Companies made an offer of €277m (US$380m) for a 75% stake in the fully state-owned operator in April last year. The offer surpassed the sole other bid of €150m (US$206m) by Lebanese M1.
The sale, which excludes PTK’s postal business, was expected to close during the summer.
However, in August, the government privatisation committee announced that the buyers requested a postponement. At the time, a source close to the matter said the delay was due to a political issue between the governments of Kosovo and Serbia but did not go into details.
In September 2013 the planned privatisation was once again delayed as parliamentarians were unable to agree on the sale.
PTK is considered to be one of the country’s most profitable companies with over a million mobile subscribers.
