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Privatization: Governments
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Privatization or changing the form of ownership is one of the key priorities of economic reforms being implemented by the Government of Uzbekistan. It covers all industries and sectors of economy. The basic mechanisms of reforming property relations is privatization of the state owned enterprises, encouragement of independent development of new private sector, attraction of private foreign investments.
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The first regime after the communists fell from power began its privatization process as a "piecemeal approach." It privatized companies on a methodical, case-by-case basis. The regime recognized the need to form the State Property Agency (SPA), which provided a more structured approach. Seventeen-hundred enterprises immediately fell under the agency's control. The agency forced enterprises to gain approval before the sale of any state assets over a pre-designated value. The government ordered the agency to reduce the state ownership of enterprises from ninety percent in 1990 to fifty percent by the end of 1994. In addition to the duties mentioned above, the SPA's ... keeps records of all state property, exercises managerial rights over companies, and analyzes the results of the companies under it.
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Privatization has fallen out of favor among many politicians, but Rwanda illustrates the benefits it can bring. In particular, the deals above increased government revenue and freed up resources. BUT much more importantly, the private sector firms made huge investments of capital and technical know-how that directly benefit Rwandan customers.
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Struggles against the privatization of water supplies have already erupted in a number of countries. In Bolivia in 1999, the government responded to structural adjustment policies of the World Bank by privatizing the water system of its third largest city, Cochabamba. The government granted a 40-year concession to run the debt-ridden system to a consortium led by Italian-owned International Water Limited and U.S.-based Bechtel Enterprise Holdings. The newly privatized water company immediately raised prices. Although the minimum wage stood at less than $65 a month, many of the poor had water bills of $20 or more. Water collection ... required the purchase of permits, which threatened the access to water for the poorest citizens.
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The privatization movement began not in the United States but in the United Kingdom—and it began with a vengeance. During her administration, Margaret Thatcher, prime minister from 1979 to 1990, privatized gas, electricity, telephones, trains, and most other state-owned companies in an effort to overhaul Great Britain's socialized and centralized economy, reversing a trend started by the post-World War II defeat of Winston Churchill by Clement Attlee. Attlee and his Labour Party took over the leadership of Britain's government and "sought to scale and control the commanding heights of their national economies," according to Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw, authors of The Commanding Heights: The Battle between Government and the Marketplace that Is Remaking the World. Attlee's Labourites favored a mixed economy marked by strong and direct government involvement in the nation's economy via fiscal management, state-owned and state-run companies, and an expanded welfare state. But by the 1980s the British economy and British productivity had become moribund. The Guardian, although an British left-of-center newspaper... praised Thatcher's revitalization of her country's economy.
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Privatization of state-owned enterprises is a core aspect of the economic policy of the Nigerian government. Privatization intends to improve efficiency and to combat corruption. Privatization remains controversial because of the lack of transparency involved, and because of the social effects it may bring about: from job losses to increased prices for services. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the opportunities and risks of privatization, HBF Nigeria supports a number of initiatives aiming at strenghtening the capacity of civil society organisations in Nigeria to meaningfully and critically engage government's privatization policy.
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