ASTANA: Kazakh sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna plans to raise more than $6 billion from privatisations over the next five years, using the proceeds to help its companies repay debt, the fund’s managing director told Reuters on Thursday.
The sale will start with small companies. Public offerings of stakes in the fund’s crown jewels, such as national oil company KazMunayGaz, will be the last deals to happen and will take place after 2018, Berik Beisengaliyev said in an interview.
“The balance sheet value of those assets (earmarked for privatisation) is between $6.0-7.3 billion at the current exchange rate,” Beisengaliyev said.
“Of course, we plan to raise more than the balance sheet value over the next five years.” The oil-rich Central Asian nation announced an ambitious privatisation programme last year as the plunge in energy prices hit its economy, government revenue and the finances of many state-run companies.
Many of the companies slated for sale belong to Samruk-Kazyna and Beisengaliyev said the fund has split them into two groups: 44 large companies and 173 smaller ones.
Stakes in smaller companies such as provincial air terminals or oil equipment plants will go first, by the end of 2017, mostly through electronic auctions.
Among the 44 large companies, stakes in 37 will be sold by the end of 2018 and the remaining seven will be publicly listed in 2018-2020, Beisengaliyev said.
Those seven companies are railway giant Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, KazMunayGaz, uranium miner Kazatomprom, electric power conglomerate Samruk Energy, mining holding Tau-Ken Samruk, postal service KazPost and flagship carrier Air Astana.
Asked what the proceeds would be used for, Beisengaliyev said: “Clearly, to reduce the debt burden”.
Companies owned by Samruk-Kazyna have a total foreign debt of about $17 billion and KazMunayGaz accounts for nearly 60 per cent of that sum.
Beisengaliyev said Samruk-Kazyna has hired Boston Consulting Group to advise on the privatisation process and would hire separate advisers for large individual deals.
