Propriv was approved in 2019, integrating 195 assets and companies, but it has been undergoing changes, with goods entering and leaving, with a new phase of the program having been announced this year, which will last until 2026.
Of the total assets contemplated initially, 93 processes were concluded, and Patrício Vilar considers that the objectives were achieved, taking into account that at this stage assets such as industries, agro-industries and farms were essentially sold.
"If we consider that most of these were assets, I am very satisfied, that is, the filet mignon was yet to come", said the head of the Institute for the Management of Assets and State Participations (IGAPE) in an interview with Lusa.
Of the 93 completed processes, 955 billion kwanzas were contracted and 571 billion received, while canceled contracts, due to non-payment, represent 2 percent of the total.
"We had a big challenge, this program could not continue to 'lend', we had to find a model that would allow the business community to have access to the program and it was decided to make seven-year contracts with a two-year grace period", he advanced, thus justifying the deferred payments and the difference in revenue between contracted and received amounts.
Even so, "our expectations were lower than what happened", taking into account the pandemic and the macroeconomic context, which only "turned around at the end of 2022", underlined Patrício Vilar.
Because "one thing is selling assets, real estate, equipment at public auction, another thing is selling companies", he said, stressing that this process takes much longer, especially when it comes to stock exchange operations, as happened with the Angolan State's holdings at Banco Angolano de Investimento (BAI) and at Caixa Angola, sold last year.
In addition, many of these companies enshrine preemptive rights in their shareholder statutes, which required "a significant negotiation process" to reach an agreement with the shareholders.
The great advantage of a privatization on the stock exchange, underlined the manager, "is that there are no impairments, you can only bid by paying". On the other hand, this mechanism can only be used by "healthy" companies that meet "minimum market requirements", which, he acknowledged, is not the prerogative of the vast majority of national companies.
This year, IGAPE is expected to begin the sale of some of the most attractive companies, including Unitel, although Patrício Vilar is cautious about deadlines.
"As this is an IPO (Initial Public Offering), it is not worth speculating when we are going to end", he said, stressing that scenarios are still being analyzed, namely whether the State will maintain any participation. So there's no rush, he emphasizes.
It is important to distinguish assets, which are interested in selling as quickly as possible, from companies in which the sale value and improvement of their organizational capacity must be maximized, he continued.
"Any precipitation in such a process can mean two things: loss of value and no improvement in the company's performance. These processes must be conducted with the necessary prudence", highlighted the responsible
Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA), the insurance company ENSA and TV Cabo are other companies to be privatized via the stock exchange this year, according to Propriv's programming, published on March 28 in Presidential Decree n.º 78/ 23.
"We have already agreed with BFA that they will be the ones to conduct the financial intermediation of the process, the challenge is that there is not just one shareholder, there are two (the other is BPI, 100 percent owned by the Spanish group Caixa Bank) and it is it is necessary to conciliate strategies regarding the future of that asset".
The privatization process of the State's shares in Endiama (national diamond company), in the oil company Sonangol, and in the Bodiva stock exchange, will be launched through an initial public offering of shares in 2024, when the Government also intends to proceed with the sale of the airline TAAG, and the agribusiness Aldeia Nova.
As for Unitel, Patrício Vilar considers that 18 months will be a "reasonable period" for privatization.
