Azerbaijan National Depository Center possesses small batch of vouchers

The National Depository Center (NDC) operating under the Azerbaijani State Securities Committee still has privatization vouchers although their validity period expired in late 2010, Chairman Rufat Aslanli told journalists today.

Earlier, it was reported that the committee had 600,000 privatization shares. Voucher owners continue to store them in the NDC. They had the chance to take advantage of the right to participate in privatization through vouchers until late 2011, Aslanli said.

Although the vouchers are no longer in circulation, the center will continue to store them in accordance with security procedures, he said.

"The NDC intends to take the appropriate actions as determined by voucher owners," Aslanli said.

The voucher validity period expired on Dec. 31

The privatization shares (one share is 4 vouchers) were issued in Azerbaijan in January 1996 in two phases. The population received 31.9 million privatization vouchers. In accordance with Azerbaijani legislation, every citizen born before Jan. 1, 2007 received four vouchers for free.

Nearly 25.5 million vouchers, representing 80 percent of the vouchers in circulation, have been written off during the period of privatization.

The maturity period has been extended several times to ensure the greater use of the vouchers (until Jan. 1, 2002, July 1, 2004, and Jan. 1, 2008, and the last time on Dec. 31).

The cost of one privatization voucher on the black market is five manat. During the reporting period, the maximum cost of each unit was no more than 85 manat.

Azerbaijan has identified new mechanisms to ensure participation in the privatization process after the voucher validity period expired on Dec. 31, the Azerbaijani State Property Issues Committee reported earlier.

Based on a presidential decree on amendments and additions to decrees on state property privatization in Azerbaijan dated June 22, the new mechanisms will ensure the people's participation in the privatization process after the validity period for using vouchers expires. These changes include the preferential sale of shares in joint stock companies and specialized voucher auctions, as well as the privatization of small enterprises.


/Trend/