Italy: the Italian government has given the go ahead for the privatisation of the ALITALIA airline in which it still has a 62% holding. The declared objective of this operation, which will reduce the Treasury's share to at least 51%, is to allow the Italian airline to take part in the merger between AIR FRANCE AND KLM. The sale will be finalised via a public tender or a mutually agreed sale, possibly in the shape of an exchange of shares. ALITATLIA has announced the loss of 2,700 jobs and expects to show losses of EUR 410 million for 2003. - Portugal: the Portuguese government is expected to rethink its privatisation of the pulp and paper group PORTUCEL, following the decision of the shareholders' general assembly opposing the deal to allow the Portuguese company COFINA, which is part of the LECTA paper group, gain a stake in the company. Portugal had in fact predicted the entry of paper and pulp company with a 25% stake in a shares swap. 15% of capital was then expected to be sold directly to institutional investors. Following this setback, the government has announced that it would be proceeding with the direct sale of 30% of PORTUCEL with a new call for tenders, for which the procedures still need to be worked out. - Turkey: the Turkish government has approved a privatisation plan of at least 51% of the capital of the private operator, TURK TELEKOM. A call for tender will be launched for candidates, which will be closed by 31 May 2004. If the operation succeeds, other sections will be sold off. Romania: the Romanian government has sold of a minority stake it held in the public bank BANCA COMERCIALA ROMANA to the Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Berd) and IFC -INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORP. The Berd and the IFC each hold 12.5% as well as a share worth a total of USD 222 million. The next stage will be the sale of 8% of shares to bank employees followed by the sale of a majority share to a strategic investor. Up till now the state owned 69.88% of BCR.