Tender for sale of Institute for Textbooks to be announced in March?

Public invitation for tender sale of 25% of State-owned assets in the Institute for Textbooks and TEaching Aids will, most probably, be announced in the second half of March 2007.

The Institute for Textbooks was founded in 1957 as "the specialized republic institution for long-term pedagogical-educational aims", until it became public company on May 1, 1993 by the decision of the Government.

That publishing company is 100% owned by the Republic. Its property includes several facilities and it has well-developed retail network. The publishing company also owns two administrative buildings, one of which is on the attractive location in Obilićev Venac Street, five bookstores in Belgrade, two bookstores in Novi Sad and one in Niš and one in Kosovska Mitrovica.

Announcement of the tender for sale of 25% of the Institute for TExtbooks and announced sale of "Bigz" in March are only introduction to the privatization of other publishing companies, such as "Prosveta", which is expected in 2007.

Also, the privatization of other newspaper-publishing companies in Serbia will follow, so that four companies from the provinces will be offered for sale on the auction that will be held on March 23. These companies are "Naša reč" from Leskovac, "Svetlost" from Kragujevac, "Pobeda" from Kruševac and "Napred" from Valjevo.