Breton defers Areva privatisation until 2006

PARIS, March 16 (AFP) – Privatisation of Areva, the world’s largest nuclear engineering group, will take place in 2006 at the earliest, French Finance Minister Thierry Breton said Wednesday.

“I have indicated my priorities for 2005. For the others we will see in 2006. For Areva, which is one of the others, we will look at it in 2006” if market conditions allow, Breton told media as he outlined policy for the first time since assuming the post on February 28.

“I was very clear about the programme, this year we are going to focus on Gaz de France and EDF,” he said in reference to France’s state-owned gas and electricity groups.

Breton’s predecessor Herve Gaymard had said last month that Areva would be floated by the end of the summer in France, at which point the proportion of listed shares was to have risen to 35-40 percent from the current level of four percent.