Privatization in Iran
According to the Fourth
In 2007,
Some 80 percent of the companies subject to Article 44 of the Constitution would be transferred to public ownership, 40 percent of which will be conducted through the "Justice Shares" Scheme and the rest through the Tehran Stock Exchange. The government will keep the title of the remaining 20 percent.[3]
It is widely believed that if current governmental organizations are privatized they will need to become more efficient. At present many are not profitable due to large numbers of unnecessary employees hired by the government to reduce unemployment. Furthermore, many of these companies are subsidized by oil revenues. True privatization will inevitably lead to many unpopular job cuts and large scale lay offs.
The writer Kaveh Ehsani of an article on privatization in Iran says: "the absence of transparency and accountability, in all likelihood, “privatization” of public assets will replace state monopolies with equally unaccountable private monopolies and multi-national capital, without necessarily benefiting “the public” in a discernible way." [4]
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 base market price for future offerings. According to a study conducted by the IMF in 18 countries, privatization adds 2 percent to the government's GDP per annum.[5]
The Iranian constitution
According to the Article 44 of the
- The state sector is to include all large-scale industries, foreign trade, major minerals, banking, insurance, power generation, dams and large-scale irrigation networks, radio and television, post, telegraph and telephone services, aviation, shipping, roads, railroads and the like; all these will be publicly owned and administered by the State.
- The cooperative sector is to include cooperative companies (Bonyad) and enterprises concerned with production and distribution, in urban and rural areas, in accordance with Islamic criteria.
- The private sector consists of those activities concerned with agriculture, animal husbandry, industry, trade, and services that supplement the economic activities of the state and cooperative sectors.
A strict interpretation of the above has never been enforced in the Islamic Republic and the private sector has been able to play a much larger role than is outlined in the Constitution. In recent years, the role of the private sector has been further on the increase. Furthermore, an amendment of the article in 2004 has allowed 80 percent of state assets to be privatized (ref: Note C, article 44 of Constitution).[6]
Background
- Tehran Stock Exchange (48.5%)
- Tender (38.5%)
- Iran Fara Bourse (12.8%)
- Negotiation (0.2%)
Iranian Revolution and Iran–Iraq War (1979–88)
In July 1979, six months after the victory of the Revolution, 28 private banks that held 43.9 percent of the total assets of all the
Immediately following the outbreak of the
Rafsanjani government (1989–97)
After the
Khatami government (1997–2005)
In 2004, under the presidency of reformist
Despite plans to sell billions worth of state assets to the private sector, uptake was very slow. A common criticism of the
Ahmadinejad government (2005–2013)
In July 2006, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei decreed a renewed effort to privatize the economy and said in his order that “ceding 80 per cent of the shares of large companies will serve to bring about
In February 2008, Iran announced that 3 newly formed
Close to 370 trillion rials worth of shares of firms covered by Article 44 of the Constitution have been sold to the private sector from 2006 to 2009. The value of government assets are between 1,000 and 1,100 trillion
In 2009 it was reported that 30 percent of the revenues obtained from ceding the ownership of state entities within the framework of Article 44 of the Constitution are allocated to the nationwide
As of 2009, Iran has privatized $63 billion worth of government equity in state-owned firms since 2005 (out of $120 billion). Subsequently, the disinvestment has brought the government's direct ownership in the GDP from 80% down to 40%.[citation needed] However, privatization through the Tehran Stock Exchange has tended to involve the sale of state-owned enterprises to other state actors such as pension funds.[15]
The Iranian Government announced in 2010 that it aims to raise some $12.5 billion by privatizing more than 500 state-owned firms.[citation needed] The money raised through privatization of the firms will be spent on paying the state's debts.
Rouhani government (2013–2021)
Iran's government was due to privatize 27 huge companies, 76 large companies, 31 medium companies, and 31 companies of other sizes in 2014. Huge companies are those companies with the shares value of over 10 trillion rials (about $403 million) and large companies are those with the shares value of over one trillion rials (about $40 million).[16] As of November 2014, the value of shares transferred over the mentioned 1.5 years (about $9.2 billion) is tantamount to the value of shares transferred since the establishment of the organization 12.5 years ago.[17]
As of 2016, regarding privatizations conducted by the IPO, 25% of such entities were divested to the Civil Servants Pension Organization, 15% to the Farmers, Villagers and Nomads’ Social Insurance Fund and 25% to the Social Security Organization and only 5% to the "real private sector".[18]
For years it has been the country's position to privatize 80% of all power plants. As of August 17, 2017 Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian has said that 55% of all power plants have completed privatization. The country aims to clinch international contracts in order to aid in attracting much needed investment.[19]
Raisi government (2021–2024)
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"Justice shares" plan
- "Justice shares" (40%)
- Tehran Stock Exchange/(IPO) (35%)
- Workers (5%)
- Government (20%)
The government has approved a plan to offer shares to low-income families, starting with the poorest. Under the “Justice Shares“ plan, millions of Iranian families will receive shares in state-owned firms, the value of which will be reimbursed in 20 years from the dividends generated by those shares. The project is in line with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election promise to improve the condition of Iran's poor. Ahmadinejad in July 2005 promised to distribute shares to Iranian families, adding that these shares would be from state-run companies that must be privatized.[20] Justice shares are valued at $36 billion as of 2014.[21]
Implementation
The poorest strata of society shall receive justice shares at a 50 percent discount and will pay the said amount in 10-year instalments. Villagers and nomads shall have priority in this respect.
Directives on identifying those eligible to receive justice shares (in the second phase) have been issued and the shares will be distributed (among the rural residents and the tribesmen) after receiving their national code number. Up to 6.5 million rural residents who qualify for the shares have been identified and that 1.2 million more people are yet to complete their documents. The Government is promoting the
In February 2008 the Iranian Economic Ministry announced that some 15 million rural people out of 23 million are entitled to justice shares by the next Iranian year (to start March 20, 2008).[24] In November 2008 Iran announced that some 22.5 million people have received justice shares.[25] However, in 2009 labor leaders complained that workers had received hardly any.[citation needed] More than seven million people have been categorized in the lowest-income bracket.[3] By mid-June 2009, it was reported that almost 40 million people had received justice shares.[26] As of 2020, some 49 million Iranians have Justice Shares. Beneficiaries of justice shares could not trade the shares and received a small part of the dividends between 2018 ad 2020.[27]
As of 2020, shareholders have the new option to either directly gain the ownership of their shares and sell it in the stock exchange, or let the investment companies manage their portfolio as in the past. The Justice Share portfolio includes 49 state-owned companies in the auto, metal, mining, and agriculture, petrochemical and banking sectors.[27]
Criticism
Some observers have argued that this "privatization" is modeled on the voucher distribution programs of Russia and Czechoslovakia in the 1990s, which, at least in the case of Russia, led to the rise of the oligarchs.[28][29] The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance (Iran) has announced that it was forming a special committee to facilitate the process of making Justice Shares tradable on the stock exchange.[21]
Shares for workers
As part of a policy of transferring shares of state firms to employees (5% of privatization proceeds),[
Iranian expatriates' role
Privatization drive may gain further momentum if Iranian expatriates increase investment in their motherland. Iranian nationals residing abroad are holding significant assets. Many have invested their capital in other countries, following the 1979
Investments
In 2000, the Iran Press Service reported that
Expatriate fund
The government has proposed setting up a joint investment fund with $5 billion in basic capital and an economic union to serve Iranians living abroad. The stated goal is to attract investment from
Foreign investment
Foreign investors can bid in Iranian privatization tenders, but need permission from the Economy Ministry on a case-by-case basis.[10] Iran has announced it will begin to allow foreign firms to purchase Iranian state-run companies, with the possibility of obtaining full ownership.[citation needed]
Offshore fund
A subsidiary of Iran's largest bank,
Top 100 Iranian companies
The ranking has been assessed by Iran Industrial Management Company for the past 10 years.[38] Based on financial statements for March 2005–06, the '100 top Iranian corporations' were ranked and announced in a conference in early 2007. According to the economic expert in charge of the rankings, the main index considered was the sales of companies because "Sales figure indicates the growth of a corporation".
According to the same survey, while 67 percent of the firms have experienced a decline in profit margin, car manufacturers, cement factories, investment institutions and banks have had an increase in the same index. The Iranian year March 2005-06 was a good year for these industries.
Meanwhile, the Persian daily
Latest statistics show that the number of companies worth over one billion dollars on
Valuation
The assets of the top 100 Iranian
Major companies listed for privatization
Of 1,000 companies awaiting the cabinet's approval, 240 companies had the green light already to be privatized by March 2008.
Banking and insurance
Most smaller state banks will be open to flotation, but excluded key banks including the
Insurance companies Asia, Dana and Alborz will be listed on the stock exchange in 2009 after review and improvement in their financial accounts, internal regulations, organizational structure and dispersion nationwide.[45] In 2008, the total insurance premiums generated in Iran were $4.3 billion. This is less than 0.1% of the world's total, while Iran has approximately 1% of the world's population. The insurance penetration rate is approximately 1.4%, significantly below the global average of 7.5%. This underdevelopment is also evident in product diversity. Approximately 60% of all insurance premiums are generated from
Industry
102 companies out of the total 130, affiliated with IDRO, were due to be privatized by March 2009
Utilities
Mines & metals
National Iranian Copper Industries Co.(NICICO),
Transport
As planned, all airline companies except for Civil Aviation Organization as well as
Telecommunication
In 2006, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced that it will float the shares of affiliated companies such as Mobile Telecommunications Company in the stock market.[61]
Under the general policies of Article 44, telecom companies are categorised in four groups as follows:
- Group One: Among the 30 provincial telecom networks, the fixed telecom networks pertain to those of Tehran, Isfahan, Fars, Hamedan, Ahvaz, Khorasan Razavi, Khuzestan and East Azarbaijan. The first group concerns fixed line telecom networks, including those in the public sector with 30 subsidiary telecom networks in provinces. The non-governmental sector includes companies such as Iraphone, Novin, Zahi Kish, Kouh-e Nour, Montazeran Adlgostar and Pouya Ertebat with each having hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
- Group Two: The second group concerns mobile telephone networks. In the public sector, they include the Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) to be privatized by March 2008.[62] In the non-governmental sector, they include telecommunications companies such as Omran Kish, Isfahan, Rafsanjan Complex and Irancell.
- Group Three: There is only one public network in the data network sector, namely Data and Telecommunications Company of Iran, which is considered a basic telecom network in terms of mobile networks and Shomal IT Company. In the non-governmental sector, there are over 100 companies with a shared data network.
- Group Four: The subsidiary telecom network named Subsidiary Telecommunications Company is another basic telecom network. They are completely owned by the state and not targeted for privatization.
In 2009, 51% of TCI was sold to
Oil, gas and petrochemicals
- According to the Supreme Leader of Iran the downstream oil and gas sectors will be privatized, excluding the upstream oil and gas industry, the National Iranian Oil Company, the state companies involved in exploration and the production of crude oil and gas. Iran's Oil Ministry plans to cede shares of 95 percent of its affiliated companies to the private sector.[64] Just 7 out of 142 subsidiaries of the Ministry of Petroleum have been excluded from the privatization process.
- Some shares will be dual-listed on regional foreign National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NPC), five are affiliates of National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), and two of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC), including the Abadan Refinery.[66] National Iranian Gas Company, the Iranian Oil Terminals Company and the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company are also on the list.[67] Iranian Oil Terminals Co., a division of the National Iranian Oil Co., has four transport hubs that load more than 2,000 oil tankers per year.[68]
- Iran is to target foreign investment in its energy sector by creating an umbrella group of nearly 50 state-run firms and listing its shares on four international stock exchanges. Under the privatization plan, 47 oil and gas companies (including PetroIran and North Drilling Company) worth an estimated $90 billion are to be privatized on the Tehran Stock Exchange by 2014.[69][70]
- Iranian Economic Reform Plan, petrochemical companies, which use natural gas as their feedstock (rather than fuel), will pay no more than 65% of the average export price (rather than 75% for the general population) for a period of 10 years.
- Iran also projects to privatize some of its oil refineries (2009).[57][73][75][76] Isfahan, Bandar Abbas, Tabriz, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Lavan, and Tehran (Shahid Tondgouyan) oil refineries will be transferred to the private sector but the ownership of Abadan and Arak oil refineries will remain in government control.[64]
- The government of Iran announced in 2017 that a vast majority of the country's 3,600 gas and diesel stations along with 2,400 CNG stations would be privatized in order improve service and raise accountability. On August 8, 2017, a European firm based jointly in Greece and Romania announced it was planning to commercialize a number of stations. The deal is expected to grow economic ties between the EU and Iran.[77]
See also
- Organization for Collection and Sale of State-owned Properties of Iran (OCSSPI)
- Economy of Iran
- International Rankings of Iran in Economy
- Iranian Economic Reform Plan
- Labor and tax laws in Iran
- List of Major Iranian Companies
- Next Eleven
- Tehran Stock Exchange
- Transition economy
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External links
- Privatization Organization of Iran (in Persian and English) – affiliated with the Ministry of Economy and Finance (With latest info on the companies being privatized, including regulations)
- Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges Archived 14 December 2013 at archive.today – Tehran Stock Exchange statistics, listing requirement, regulations, operations, comparisons and latest news (including IPOs)
- Iran Industrial Management Company (in Persian) – Top 100 Iranian companies list
- Press articles
- Privatization of Public Goods in the Islamic Republic by Kaveh Ehsani
- Law in Force – Iran Daily
- Pros and Cons of Privatization – Iran Daily
- Privatization and Structure of Iran's Transportation System (2000)
- Privatization of State-Owned Enterprises in Iran: Panacea or Prescription for Disaster By Dr. Ali Mostashari
- Iran: Inflation, privatization lead intensify working class struggles