Azerbaijan, Baku, May 1/Trend M. Moezzi
The Privatisation Organisation of Iran has offered four state owned companies' shares, worth $35 million (USD), to the public so far this year, the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reports.
Compared to the same time period last year (Iran's solar year ended on March 19), the public offering of state owned assets has dropped 26 per cent. A year ago, the Privatisation Organisation of Iran (POI) had put shares worth more than $1.3 billion from 15 companies on the selling block.
Under Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution which regulates the issues of economics and finance in the country, the Iranian economy is divided into three sectors: public, private and cooperative.
In 2004, the article was amended to allow the sale of 80 per cent of the state assets of large companies.
In 2007 when 70 per cent of industrial production was owned by the state, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered that government officials speed up implementation of the policies outlined in the amendment to Article 44, and move towards economic privatization.
So far this year, Iran's Ministry of Agriculture has offered up the most assets, worth $25 million, for sale.