By IRNA,
Berlin : German Transportation Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee hopes to complete the partial privatization of the state-owned railway company, Deutsche Bahn (DB) by the end of the year, media reports said Tuesday.
“We still hope to finalize the privatization deal by “November- December 2008.” Tiefensee was quoted as saying on radio.
If market situation is not suitable at the end of the year, the privatization could also take place “one, two or three months” later, the minister added.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition agreed late Monday evening to sell off DB shares which is expected to raise between five and eight billion euros, according to estimates released by investment banks.
As part of the accord, some 24.9 per cent of passenger and freight transport are to be privatized.
Meanwhile, the DB’s 34,000 kilometer-rail track network and stations are to remain 100 per cent under government control.