Turkmen State Assets Set For Privatization

Turkmen authorities have unveiled a list of state-owned assets set for privatization.

State-run media reports said on February 4 that the assets to be sold in the March 9 auction include a shopping center, a food-production plant, and a chain of auto-repair shops in the capital, Ashgabat.

Foreign and local investors will be allowed to participate in the auction.

President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov approved the program for privatizing state-owned property in November 2012.

The privatization was scheduled to start this year and is planned to be finished in 2016.

It is not clear if any of the natural-gas-rich country's energy-related assets will be included in the privatization.

Turkmenistan's privatization move is considered significant because its economy is currently almost completely state-controlled.

Based on reporting by AP, "Neitralny Turkmenistan," and RFE/RL's Turkmen Service