Cabinet today should formally approve a delay in its decision on the method and timing of Cesky Telecom privatization until the end of November. Originally, the decision was to have been made by September 30, but KPN’s pulling out of the race changed the situation completely. A delay until December was announced some time ago, and Cabinet’s decision today should be a mere formality. A Finance Ministry spokesman said yesterday that the government’s Cesky Telecom privatization adviser has approached four telecoms, namely Deutsche Telekom, Telekom Austria, Telecom Italia and TeleDanmark.
Separately, Deputy Transport and Communications Minister Guerlichova yesterday suggested that Cesky Telecom privatization could be completed by mid-2001, which we find quite ambitious.
(Ondřej Daťka)