Talking to MNA, Esmaeil Gholami added that the IPO board will ratify the selling of 49 percent and 100 percent of Amir Kabir and Razi petrochemical companies by tender respectively.

The privatization is in line with the enforcement of the Article 44 of the Constitution, he said.

Shifting to Bank Mellat, whose shares were to be sold by Dec. 21, the official said the audit vouchers are not ready yet.

DRILLING CO. ON SALE

Iran’s North Drilling Company Managing Director Asghar Rafiei Sunday announced that the selling of NDC shares would start in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) as of Feb 20, PIN reported.

The NDC chief told PIN that the company was among the privatization-bound centers and it was trying to have a strong presence in the TSE.

“Everything is ready for ceding the company to the private sector and we are waiting for calculation of its capital by responsible officials,” he added.

The National Iranian Oil Company’s (NIOC) Article 44 Headquarters early December said the shares of four giant oil companies would be offered by high tender in the TSE in the near future.

Ali Kardor added that Petropars Company, Petroiran Company, South Engineering Services and Turbine Industrial Equipment Company, and North Drilling Company are the privatization-bound corporations.

Iranian Privatization Organization (IPO) is mulling over the shares’ prices.

According to the Fourth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2005-2010), the Iranian Privatization Organization affiliated to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance is in charge of setting prices and ceding shares to the general public and on the stock market.

In 2007, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei urged the government officials to speed up implementation of the policies outlined in the amendment of Article 44 of the Constitution, and to move towards economic privatization. Ayatollah Khamenei also said that ownership rights should be protected in courts set up by the Justice Ministry.

The current privatization effort calls for an initial public offering (IPO) of five percent of the firms being privatized. Once the five percent is public, it will establish a market price which further offerings can be based on.

According to a study conducted by the IMF in 18 countries, privatization adds two percent to the government’s GDP per annum.

According to the Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution, the economy of Iran is to consist of three sectors: state, cooperative, and private and is to be based on systematic and sound planning.