[Intl-tobacco] Korea: Plan to Privatize KTGC to be Postponed (fwd)

[Robert Weissman]

09/19, 2001
Digital Chosun

Plan to Privatize KTGC to be Postponed

The government is not likely to press ahead with its plan to privatize Kore=
a
Ginseng and Tobacco Corp. (KTGC) this year, due to the terrorist attacks in
the United States and sluggish share markets. According to a high-ranking
official at the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) Wednesday, the
government's plan to float bonds overseas to privatize the state monopolies
in September has been postponed until after October.

The same official also explained that his ministry has been considering the
move of selling off the state=A1=AFs stake in the firm at the domestic bour=
se
next year.

Earlier government plans to privatize its stake in KTGC indicated that,
starting from the middle of September, the government would issue depositor=
y
receipts (DRs) worth US$500 million, equivalent to 20 percent of the
government stake in the firm. The government=A1=AFs plan to sell off its
23-percent remaining stake at the domestic share market within the year is
due to be aborted as domestic sales can only be made 75 days after the DR
issuance.

(Kim Young-jin, hellojin@chosun.com)