Venezuela to Offer Shares of Public Companies on Stock Exchange

The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, announced that Venezuela will offer up to 10% of the shares of several public companies through the country’s stock exchange.

“We are going to offer between 5% and 10% of the shares of several public companies for national investment, primarily, or for international,” the president reported during a working meeting this Wednesday, May 11.

He stated that the offer of company shares will begin on May 16 on the stock market. Maduro added that the measure is aligned with an announcement he made last year, and that it took several months to materialize.

#ÚltimoMinuto | Entre 5% y 10% de las acciones de empresas públicas serán ofertadas a través de la Bolsa de Valores de Venezuela para la inversión nacional e internacional, anunció el jefe de Estado @NicolasMaduro pic.twitter.com/YMD0SzShTW

— Prensa Presidencial (@PresidencialVen) May 11, 2022

President Maduro mentioned some of the companies in which investors can acquire shares:

• CANTV
• Movilnet
• Petroquímica
• All joint oil ventures
• Gas companies
• Companies from the Guayana region (mining, forestry, aluminum, and services sector)

“You can become an investor in public companies,” said the head of state.

Maduro pointed out that capital, technology, and new markets are needed for the development and improvement of public companies suffering under the strangulation of the coercive economic measures of the United States and the European Union.

Export law
During his speech, the president reported that next week he will deliver a bill to the National Assembly, the Law for the Promotion and Protection of Exports, with the aim of moving towards the new economic model.

President Maduro recalled that this project must comply with all the mechanisms for debate and public consultation. The objective is that Venezuela will implement the new legal parameters for the second half of 2022.

“We know what we are doing, how we are doing it, and where we are going,” President Maduro said.

Exports facilitated
The head of state also announced the start of the Exporta Fácil (“easy export”) program, which will be aimed at streamlining administrative procedures and policies related to exports.

“We wager on the future of Venezuela, on alternative work to oil,” President Maduro said. “If oil produces, it is appreciated. If it produces a lot, it is doubly appreciated. Oil and gas wealth will go to a sovereign fund for development, investment and growth.”

Chavismo supports the decision
Other than a negligible group on Venezuela’s left—most of them related to the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) or possessing Trotskyist tendencies—who immediately criticized the announcement and again chastised Maduro for alleged neoliberalism, the decision was widely welcomed by Chavista groups on social media platforms, who recognized the necessity of the decision.

Most of this support is based on the recognition of the need to improve Venezuela’s public utilities such as telephony and internet, for which CANTV is the main provider in the Caribbean country. “If the injection of capital will improve the quality of the service of CANTV and will allow them to move from DSL technology to fiber optics, let’s do it,” was a typical comment that one could read today in Venezuela. “We all need that, not only the east of Caracas. The government will keep the majority of the shares.”

Featured image: CANTV building in Caracas. File photo.

(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón, with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SL