The infrastructure ministry will not have finished work on a law to convert telecoms concession fees by the end of this month when another hefty payment is due. It would seem likely that a payment extension will be given whilst work goes ahead on the bill which should resolve the question of debt owed by the telcoms firms. The debt to the treasury is now EUR430m.
The ministry has however made three proposals as how to resolve this problem. The first is to exchange debt for investments, second debts for shares and third debt for bonds.
The ministry wants the telecoms firms to invest in areas of low population. That is why they have come up with a two for one policy. For every EUR0.50 invested in towns of less than 100,000 inhabitants, EUR1 will be considered as the true investment amount. In areas of really low population there is a four for one offer. Furthermore the four for one offer also applies to schools and other educational establishments.
The treasury would also be prepared to accept shares or bonds in the company in exchange for debt. The bonds would have to be redeemable before 2010. No suggestions have been made as to the rate of interest on the papers.
It is no secret that the operators would prefer the first version. However Netia and Telefonia Dialog (TD) have already said that they could accept a shares for debt swap.