Deputy Finance Minister Libor Vacek said yesterday that the Cesky Telecom privatization tender results should be known at the end of October and not the end of June as previously announced. The National Property Fund intends to offer 34% (out of its 51% stake) and TelSource 17% (out of its 33.5%) for a joint sale - the contract concerning the joint sale was approved by Cabinet yesterday and it should be signed within weeks. The contract should also include TelSource’s obligation to pay CZK 200 mil. (expected by the market) for not fulfilling certain obligations related to Telecom’s development. Since the end of June had been considered an unrealistic target for tender completion, the stock could actually slightly gain with the announcement of a more realistic date..
(Jiří Soustružník)