- Italy: Silvio Berlusconi's government is preparing the privatisation process and has announced the reconstitution of a privatisation committee, a body set up in 1993 to launch large-scale privatisation after a one-year gap. Another tranche of ENEL will be sold off (ENEL is still 68% state held) and ETI, the public company managing the previous tobacco monopoly, may also be sold. The state still fully controls all Italian post offices, POSTE ITALIANE, the railways - FERROVIE DELLO STATO and RAI (television), 53% of ALITALIA (airline), 32.4% of FINMECCANICA (defence) and 30% of ENI (oil). - France: The economics and finance ministry has announced how a maximum of 49% of the capital of ASF - AUTOROUTES DU SUD DE LA France will be sold. The operation is being combined with the sell-off of up to 75.5 million ASF shares which should raise between EUR 1.6 and 1.9 bn and raise the capital by EUR 800 million. The range of prices for institutional investors is between EUR 22 and EUR 25.5 a share; for private investors it is from EUR 21 to EUR 24.5. See IE of 30 January. - Slovakia: Slovakia is to proceed with the biggest privatisation to date, selling off 49% of the gas monopoly SPP - SLOVENSKY PLYNARENSKY PRIEMYSEL (6,550 employees and 1.3 million clients) to a consortium made up of GAZ DE FRANCE, Germany's RUHRGAS and Russia's GAZPROM, for EUR 3.1 bn.