Jerusalem, 23 January 1997
PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE PRESENTS PRIVATIZATION PLAN
(Communicated by GPO Economics Desk)
Thirteen companies partially or fully-owned by the Israel Government are
scheduled to undergo privatization during 1997, according to a plan
formulated by the government during a presentation of its multi-year
privatization plan.
The thirteen companies scheduled for privatization this coming year, some
of which are already in the process of being privatized, include larger
companies such as Bezeq, Israel Chemicals and Zim Israel Navigation
Company; and mid-sized and smaller enterprises such as Israel National Oil
Company, Yozma Venture Capital Fund, Afridar (Ashkelon real estate
developer), the Lod and Ramle District Development Company, Israel Foreign
Trade Risks Insurance Corp., Israel School for Tourism, Tourist Industry
Development Corp., Eilat Foreshore Development Corp., Arad and Dead Sea
Development Company, and Karta Central Jerusalem Development Company.
The plan also includes two other groups of companies the government wishes
to sell. The first group includes companies which need to undergo more
internal and/or legislative reform before they are ready for
privatization. This group includes El Al Israel Airlines, Industrial
Development Bank of Israel, Tadmor Hotel School, Israel Bank of
Agriculture, Israel Wine Institute, Marine Trust Ltd., Otzar Hashilton
Hamekomi, and 12 advanced training funds in which the government has
stakes. The third group of companies mentioned in the report are concerns
which the government must decide whether or not to privatize.
According to the Prime Minister's economic adviser, Senior Deputy
Director- General of the Prime Minister's Office Moshe Leon, and the
director of the Government Companies Authority, Tzippi Livne, the purpose
of the privatization effort is to reduce the government's intervention in
the economic sector. Both Leon and Livne commented that the government
prefers to sell the firms sooner rather than for more money at a later
time.
The plan, which does not specify the methods to be used for privatization,
will be presented to the Ministerial Committee on Privatization.