Privatization in Slovenia
Download Document| Date Published | 2007 |
| Version | |
| Primary Author | Joze Mencinger |
| Other Authors | |
| Theme | |
| Country | Slovenia |
Abstract
Mass privatization in the early nineties was to a great extent influenced by the legacy of social property and self-management which had singled out Yugoslav economic system. A rather predictable outcome of the privatization process was an unstable ownership structure made up of insiders, private and state owned financial institutions, and relatively few foreign owners. A sizeable portion of the economy remained in direct state ownership. Formal privatization was followed by a slow gradual consolidation of ownership structure which however also enabled political interference. While discretely used by previous governments, potential interference blew into full meddling with the new government (elected in 2004) despite its neoliberal rhetoric of the “withdrawal of the state from the economy”. Beside “basic transitional privatization” specific privatizations have shaped the existent ownership structure, as well. Such have been the restitution in kind which created administrative nightmare, the sale of social housing ending in a rather unique ownership structure, and the “privatizations” of banking and insurance industry, which ended in factual nationalization. A new wave of privatization has been a constituent part of economy wide reform which should take place in the period of the next three years. This wave of privatization should be dispersed and open to international participation. It should consist of the transformation of the state owned funds (KAD and SOD) from active into portfolio investors and of various complete or partial privatizations of some large companies which remained in state ownership during previous privatizations.