(Ondřej Daťka) In an interview for the biggest Czech daily newspaper, Pavel Mertlik, the new finance minister, said SPT could be privatized as soon as next year. This is not the first time that Mertlik spoke in favor of an early privatization of SPT. However, Prime Minister Milos Zeman reiterated 10 days ago that the government’s official policy was not to sell the stake in SPT until 2001. It is still unclear what the government’s policy on this issue will be. Mertlik also made early SPT privatization conditional on the new Telecoms Law, which is still being drafted and should be approved by the Cabinet and the parliament. In any case, it is encouraging to see that the new and increasingly influential finance minister has a consistent and a favorable view on early SPT privatization, and this could be reflected in the stock price today. As the government will have to find revenues to finance its ambitious spending plans, the chance of SPT privatization next year is not negligible. Mertlik also mentioned that Unipetrol was another company on the privatization list, along with two banks and Ceske radiokomunikace, but this is hardly any news.