PORTUGAL’S government plans a second wave of asset sales after it finishes selling stakes in REN- Redes Energeticas Nacionais SA (RENE) and oil company Galp Energia SGPS SA (GALP) early this year, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said.

    Portugal is in the final stages of choosing a buyer for REN, which operates the national power grid and gas pipelines, Passos Coelho said.

    “I hope that very quickly we will reach a positive result regarding Galp,” he said at a press conference late Monday following a European Union summit in Brussels.

    “That means we will have the conditions to start working on a second wave of privatizations that was scheduled for this year,” the prime minister said. “We will advance swiftly on that dossier.”

    Portugal’s government is selling as much as 40 percent of REN and a 7 percent stake in GALP to comply with the terms of a 78 billion euro (US$102 billion) bailout requested last year from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

    The asset-sale plans also include the state’s whole or partial stakes in airline TAP SGPS SA, airport management company ANA and rail freight company CP Carga.

     (SD-Agencies)