DUSHANBE, January 29, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- In 2008, the country’s national budget received 24.8 million somoni (some $7 million) from privatization and lease of state-owned properties, which was 23,877 somoni, or 4 percent, more than in 2007, head of the State Committee for Investments and State-owned Property Management (GosKomInvest) Farrukh Hamraliyev said at a press conference in Dushanbe on January 28.

Over the report period, the republican budget received 13.5 million somoni (equivalent to $3.5 million) from privatization and lease of real estate properties.

State-owned shares for a total amount of 2.5 million somoni and real estate properties for 6.5 million somoni were sold last year.  State-owned share dividends last year amounted to 321,000 somoni.  Last year, the budget also received 569,300 somoni from selling vehicles.

Inspections of 20 joint-stock companies that were sold by tenders have shown that new owners invested totaling 31 million somoni in development of them and created 1,306 new jobs, the GOsKomInvest head said.