BELGRADE, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - The government of Serbia said Monday it would prepare a business strategy for the state's only air carrier JAT after the airline failed to attract foreign buyers.

The government in July sought bids for 51 percent of JAT Airways for at least 51 million euros (68.8 million dollars) but had received no offers by the September 26 deadline.

BERLIN, Sept 27, 2008 (AFP) - The partial privatisation of Germany's rail operator Deutsche Bahn should bring in 4.5 billion euros, less than estimated by the government, according to a Sunday newspaper.

The report to be pubished in Welt am Sonntag quotes confidential analyses by 14 banks involved in the operation.

BERLIN, Sept 26, 2008 (AFP) - Germany's rail operator announced the timetable Friday for its long-awaited stock market listing next month, one of the biggest in Europe in 2008, despite a 'tense' situation on financial markets.

BERLIN, Sept 26, 2008 (AFP) - Germany's rail operator announced Friday the timetable for its long-awaited stock market listing next month, one of the biggest in Europe in 2008, despite a 'tense' situation on financial markets.

BRUSSELS, Sept 17, 2008 (AFP) - EU regulators gave the greenlight Wednesday to Greek plans to privatise Olympic Airlines and Olympic Airways, but said 850 million euros (1.2 billion dollars) of state aid to its cash-strapped national carrier broke European rules.

BELGRADE, September 9, 2008 (AFP) - Serbia's parliament ratified an accord with Russia on investment in the Balkan country's oil and gas industry, by a vast majority on Tuesday.

The deal clears the way for Russian gas giant Gazprom to build a pipeline in southern Serbia and an underground gas storage facility in northern Vojvodina province, and to buy the Serbian oil monopoly NIS.

BELGRADE, September 6, 2008 (AFP) - Serbia's oil monopoly NIS, set to be sold to Russian giant Gazprom, is worth 2.2 billion euros (3.1 billion dollars), a global consulting firm estimated in a report published Saturday.

ISTANBUL, August 29, 2008 (AFP) - Turkish Airlines (THY) said Friday that it had decided to bid in a tender for a 49-percent stake in BH Airlines, the national carrier of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat Federation.

THY made the announcement in a brief statement sent to the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

BERLIN, August 25, 2008 (AFP) - Germany's national railway, Deutsche Bahn, published Monday the list of banks that will handle its partial privatisation in the coming months.

The stock market listing, which press reports say is scheduled for October 27, will have Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS as its lead managers, a statement said.

The Austrian government rubber-stamped Tuesday plans to sell part of the ailing national flag ...

VIENNA, August 5, 2008 (AFP) - The Austrian government nodded its approval Tuesday to the privatisation of ailing national flag carrier, Austrian Airlines (AUA).

In a compromise reached by the coalition OeVP and SPOe parties at a meeting in the chancellor's office on Tuesday, the government agreed that up to 100 percent of the airline's capital could be sold to the private sector.

BELGRADE, July 31, 2008 (AFP) - Serbia invited offers on Thursday for the sale of 51 percent of its flagship carrier JAT Airways, the old Yugoslav airline, a stake it hopes will fetch at least 51 million euros (80 million dollars).

MOSCOW, July 31, 2008 (AFP) - Russian flagship carrier Aeroflot is unlikely to take part in the privatisation of Serbia's JAT under the current terms, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday.

'There's no point participating at such a price, especially given the growth in the price of aviation fuel,' spokeswoman Irina Dannenberg told AFP.

BELGRADE, July 31, 2008 (AFP) - Serbia's privatisation agency invited offers on Thursday for the sale of 51 percent of its flagship carrier JAT Airways, which it prices at 51 million euros (80 million dollars).

FRANKFURT, July 10, 2008 (AFP) - A stock market listing of Deutsche Bahn shares does not mean unprofitable regional rail service will be cut, railway boss Hartmut Mehdorn said in an interview Thursday.

'You think investors will have a list of all the lines with their respective profitablility? What matters is that the network functions as a whole,' Mehdorn told the daily Die Welt.

SARAJEVO, July 2, 2008 (AFP) - The privatisation agency in Bosnia's Moslem-Croat Federation said Wednesday it had opened an international tender for a 49 percent stake in the national carrier, BH Airlines.

The government of the federation currently holds a 99.87 percent stake in BH Airlines. The remaining 0.13 percent is held by the regional engineering company Energoinvest.

MOSCOW, June 30, 2008 (AFP) - Formidable Russian politician Anatoly Chubais on Monday wrapped up the work of the national power company Unified Energy Systems after a massive, nearly decade-long deregulation exercise.

MARSEILLE, June 5, 2008 (AFP) - French port workers on Thursday disrupted port activities and blockaded oil depots in the latest of a string of strikes and protests over port privatisation plans.

The main CGT union called a 24-hour walkout in the Mediterranean city of Marseille, France's biggest port, that was expected to paralyse its container and oil terminals.

NANTES, June 5, 2008 (AFP) - French port workers Thursday blockaded two oil depots on the Atlantic coast in the latest of a string of strikes and protests over port privatisation plans.

Some 200 employees from the port of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire blocked road access to two depots at a Total oil refinery in nearby Donges, the CGT union said.

After years of wrangling, the lower house of the German parliament on Friday gave the green light to a partial privatisation of the country's railways.

The Bundestag vote saw 355 deputies approve the measure with 153 against and three abstaining. Nearly 100 MPs did not cast a ballot.

The Italian government agreed Friday to relaunch the sale of struggling flag-carrier Alitalia which is in a 'critical' state, Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti announced.

The government accordingly has decided to speed up the sale, he said, adding that with the privatisation decree approved, the Alitalia board will meet on Tuesday.

Russia's electricity monopoly UES held its last shareholder meeting on Monday before disbanding in a rare example of massive privatisation amid growing state control of the energy sector.

FRANKFURT, May 26, 2008 (AFP) - The Austrian state holding group OIAG, which owns 42.75 percent of Austrian Airlines (AUA), has asked the carrier's board to assess a potential privatisation, a German press report said Monday.

STOCKHOLM, May 24, 2008 (AFP) - The Finnish state does not oppose selling off its holdings in a number of companies, including possibly TeliaSonera, which is considered a popular acquisition target, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter reported Saturday.

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Hercegovina, May 22, 2008 (AFP) - An anti-corruption watchdog estimated on Thursday that corrupt privatisation deals costed Bosnia about 250 million euros (390 million dollars) in 2007.

TIRANA, May 21, 2008 (AFP) - A US consortium has won control of Albania's only oil refinery with a bid of 125 million euros (197 million dollars), the government announced Wednesday.

The Refinery Associates of Texas and Antika Entreprises Consortium USA and Switzerland will own 85 percent of the state-controlled ARMO company, the economy ministry said in a statement.

PRAGUE, May 19, 2008 (AFP) - The Prague-Ruzyne airport should be sold for at least 4.0 billion euros (6.2 billion dollars), Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek stressed in remarks published on Monday.

'If it's less than 100 billion koruna (4.0 billion euros, 6.2 billion dollars), I will advise the government not to sell,' he said in an article appearing in the financial daily E15.

ZURICH, May 18, 2008 (AFP) - Swiss Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger is considering partially privatising the country's rail network in order to finance its development, he told a Swiss weekly published Sunday.

The Socialist minister said in an interview with SonntagsZeitung that he wanted to open up the the Swiss railway company CFF to private investors on the stock market.

ATHENS, May 14, 2008 (AFP) - Greece's two main ports will shut down Thursday and dozens of international and domestic flights will be disrupted by a 24-hour strike called by unions against a government privatisation drive.

FRANKFURT, May 13, 2008 (AFP) - Germany's state bank announced on Tuesday a new effort at further privatising national phone company Deutsche Telekom with a three-billion-euro (4.6-billion-dollar) convertible bond offering.

BERLIN, April 29, 2008 (AFP) - After years of wrangling, the partial privatisation of Germany's railways has taken a major step forward with the ruling 'grand coalition' reaching an agreement on the main points.

WARSAW, April 22, 2008 (AFP) - Poland's liberal government on Tuesday launched a vast privatisation drive targeting 740 companies after criticism from its own camp over alleged sluggishness in living up to its economic reform manifesto.

The plan foresees the sale of the firms from 2008-2011 and is expected to raise 27 billion zlotys (7.87 billion euros, 12.6 billion dollars).

WARSAW, April 22, 2008 (AFP) - The Polish government approved on Tuesday privatisation plans for 740 state-owned companies in 2008-2011, saying it hoped to raise 27 billion zlotys (7.87 billion euros, 12.6 billion dollars).

WARSAW, April 22, 2008 (AFP) - Poland's government on Tuesday approved privatisation plans for 740 state-owned companies in 2008-2011, saying it hoped to make 27 billion zlotys (7.87 billion euros, 12.6 billion dollars) in the process.

AMMAN, April 15, 2008 (AFP) - Several multi-billion dollar deals reached quietly with foreigners, including the sale of Jordan's only Red Sea port at Aqaba, have provoked MPs to demand explanations from the government over 'hidden' privatisation projects.

LISBON, April 7, 2008 (AFP) - Management at flag carrier TAP Portugal said on Monday it was preparing the company for privatisation on the back of its best ever results last year.

'Our plan is to make the company as attractive as possible to investors,' said managing director Fernando Pinto.

STOCKHOLM, April 6, 2008 (AFP) - A wave of liberal reforms has swept across Sweden since the centre-right government came to power in 2006, notably with the sale last week of the state's crown jewel Absolut vodka, but the welfare state is still alive and kicking, analysts insist.