Firesale: it's all up for grabs! If you have billions to spend. Europe sells it assets

I came across this fascinating article that shows the lengths countries in the EU are going to in their efforts to meet their debt commitments. We all know that the governments have been borrowing money left, right and centre over the last few decades from financiers and effectively bankrupted a lot of our nations.

After printing money and raising taxation and decreasing spending to meet the interest payments, the last resort it seems is to flog the family silver. Below is a lot of the content from this article in the Guardian which runs country by country through the assets being sold/ due to be sold to meet debt commitments. If you read a lot of the content on here the hilarious thing is that the funds/individuals/financial entities that will be buying these prized assets are the very people that lent the governments the money, so in effect the government is giving the assets away for free. Either the government is thick as pig SH** or there really is a massive conspiracy that we have/ are all allowing to happen.

Anyway over to the Guardian and the big firesale:

Greece:

Europe's most ambitious sell-off is taking place in its most indebted nation: Athens plans to sell €50bn (£45bn) of state assets by 2015. Looking at the sales list, it seems that very little has been left off the table. The government's stakes in the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki, 39 airports, a state lottery, a horse-racing concession, a casino, a national post office, two water companies, a nickel miner and smelter, hundreds of miles of roads, a telecoms operator, shares in two banks, electricity and gas monopolies and thousands of hectares of land, including coastal stretches, are among the host of assets on offer. While a 50% stake in Athens international airport is probably the best-known asset on the block, when it comes to sheer beauty the Anavyssos saltworks could prove difficult to beat. The saltworks, an hour south of Athens, shut down in 1969, and is situated on a mile-and-a-half of beach. However, while Greece's privatisation scheme apparently offers plenty of desirable assets, experts say the country will struggle to raise the hoped-for €50bn because investors are wary of the country's bureaucracy, strong unions, corruption and lack of transparency. Barely a year ago, Greece itself estimated that privatisation could raise, at best, €1bn to €2bn a year. Suzie Bird

Ireland:

The national airline, ports, power stations and even the Irish National Stud, which hosted a visit by the Queen in May, face being broken up or sold off under plans to get Ireland out of the red. A government-commissioned review of state assets published in April said privatisation could raise about €5bn for the cash-strapped country. Energy suppliers, transport and sporting assets were all earmarked for divestment. However, the plans could end up in the shredder. The Irish government is in no rush to sell off the family silver and the private equity company Terra Firma, which made an approach about the sale of Electricity Supply Board assets, was told that no talks could take place. The economist Colm McCarthy, who chaired the Review Group that wrote the report, recommended the break-up of the electricity and the gas boards. Other assets he recommended putting on the block include Rosslare port, Dublin Bus and the government's 25% stake in Aer Lingus, which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary. The Irish Aviation Authority, which regulates aviation and provides air traffic control services in Irish airspace and the north Atlantic, could be merged with the UK's National Air Traffic Services or other north-west European services, and the forestry commission should dispose of forests but the land they grow on should remain in state hands, McCarthy said. On the sports front, the National Stud should be sold and Horse Racing Ireland should put racecourse interests up for sale. The greyhound racing body should also get rid of its stakes in dog tracks. But the report was attacked in parliament and the government agreed there would be no "fire sale" of assets and certainly no sale until market conditions improve. Joe Higgins, a Socialist member of parliament, branded the privatisation blueprint a "neoliberal huckster's deal which will involve pawning the assets of the people to pay off moneylenders". So far little progress has been made and McCarthy has also said that he would be surprised if any assets could be sold this year. Top of the government's wish list is the sale of its stakes in the five bailed-out banks but until they emerge from the current wreckage there are unlikely to be buyers. The country's biggest life insurance operation – Irish Life – is being prepared for a trade sale on government orders. It is expected to fetch about €1.6bn but this will be used to shore up losses at the bailed-out sister bank Permanent TSB, which will disappear from the high street. Lisa O'Carroll Dublin

Spain:

The world's biggest annual lottery payout, Spain's famous Christmas El Gordo (Fat One), spreads joy to tens of thousands of winners – but the biggest winners of all may soon be investors who snap up part of the state company behind the lottery. The country's State Betting and Lottery (LAE), which offers a series of prize draws, also brings a huge dose of Christmas cheer to the country's treasury. Of the €2.15bn Spaniards bet on the draw, almost a third is retained by the lottery administrator. Spain is not as badly indebted as other European countries, but bond yields have soared as Greece, Ireland and Portugal have been forced into bailouts. Spain's socialist government, led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, has set strict deficit targets to avoid the fate of its southern European neighbours. Sales of stakes in the state lottery and the country's airports authority form part of the plan for pulling safely back from the brink. Some 30% of the state lottery will be sold as the organisation behind the 151-year-old El Gordo becomes what may be the world's biggest listed gambling company, valued at up to €25bn. The company recorded €3bn net profit in 2009 on sales of €9.8bn – meaning the sell-off will reduce treasury income by about €1bn a year. RBS recently won a contract to run the privatisation of up to 49% of Spain's airports authority, AENA, which has a book value of €2.6bn. The government also plans to auction off Madrid's Barajas airport and Barcelona's El Prat by the end of the year. Reform of the country's savings banks means that many will also soon be seeking stock market listings. Giles Tremlett Madrid

Portugal:

Neighbouring Portugal is in even starker need of money after accepting a €78bn bailout. On Thursday, the newly elected centre-right prime minister, Pedro Passos Coelho, announced a rush sale of state holdings in the utility company Energias de Portugal and the power-grid operator REN by October. Passos Coelho recently told the Financial Times that he wanted to sell off up to 49% of water utilities as well as several state media interests, reportedly including television and radio channels, plus the national news agency Lusa. The state airline TAP and the airport owner ANA – which runs airports in Lisbon, Faro, Oporto and the Azores – are also due to be sold along with the insurance business of the state-run bank CGD, although the government had not given a time frame. Portugal will also be selling off real estate belonging to its civil governors' offices, which are being scrapped. Giles Tremlett

Italy:

There had been talk of Silvio Berlusconi's debt-laden government raising cash by means of privatisation. But a package of fiscal adjustment measures being finalised in cabinet this week appeared to include only one sell-off. The government was expected to clear the way for radio frequencies to be auctioned off to telephone companies. The frequencies, made available by the shift to digital radio, were expected to bring in €2.4bn. The package of cuts, which has yet to be approved by parliament, aims to trim €47bn from the projected budget deficit but the bulk of the squeeze – €40bn – has been deferred until after 2012. John Hooper Rome

Britain:

The coalition government in Westminster is in the process of selling off the 49% state stake in the air traffic control service Nats, decommissioned naval ships and its own collection of fine wine. In the March budget the chancellor, George Osborne, set a target of raising £2bn from asset sales to finance the Liberal Democrat's idea for a green investment bank. The bulk of that is coming from the sale of its remaining stake in Nats and the Tote, the government-owned bookmakers. The private bookmakers Betfred have been chosen to buy the Tote for a reported price of £200m. Last week, the telecoms regulator Ofcom approved plans to sell spectrum for mobile broadband. Ministers will decide this summer whether to proceed with the sale of the student loan book and in the March budget, the Treasury indicated that plans for a new Public Data Corporation would involve selling public data to the private sector. Plans in the budget to sell off government buildings have been stymied by the poor property market and many departments are opting to "sweat their assets" instead by squeezing more people into the buildings in order to get out of expensive leases elsewhere. The Treasury is renting desk space to the Cabinet Office to allow it to end an expensive lease. Dozens of judicial buildings are due to go up for sale as the coalition pushes through its rationalisation of the courts service with a reduction in number by 142, including 93 magistrates courts. The government is planning to sell off HMS Ark Royal, the aircraft carrier that was decommissioned in March after 25 years' service. The deadline for bids is next month, and among those bidding is someone hoping to sink it off the Devon coast and turn it into a wreck for divers. The Commons has announced it will sell its wine cellar though the proceeds will not go to the Exchequer but to fund a larger stock of cheaper wine for official functions. The British public's appetite for the sell-off of public assets has been sorely tested and other attempts have gone spectacularly wrong. Plans to sell off as much as 150,000 hectares of forest and woodland in England in the biggest sale of public land for nearly 60 years were confirmed by MPs in October last year. The U-turn – after a huge groundswell of public opposition –came in February. Polly Curtis

Anybody have lists of other sales going on in troubled economies?
NWO plot to asset strip countries or just one giant cock up? Discuss

The government here in the Netherlands sold out here before the rise of the Euro, after the Euro they privatised the Healthcare system.

So we're sold out here too I'm afraid.

WELCOME TO THE PRIVATELY OWNED WORLD!!
Who do you think is going to buy all this #... The top 1/10 of the top 1% wealthiest families in the world..

damn I never thought this was going to be how the NWO came about..but it all makes sense now..

We're slowly shifting towards a for-profit planet. We need a drastic change, Europe has long been an ideal continent because of it's great public services when compared with the rest of the world. It's worrying that sometime in the future we could see all of our national assets on the 'chopping block'.

One simple soultion is to default on your debt. Its not like the IMF or banks can take a sovereign state to court or go to war against them.

Kick all the greedy bankers/banks out and start over again.

Looks like Gates, Buffet and the rest of the elites can start buying countries now. This may be a good thing in the long run it will make it easier to know who to round up when the revolution starts.

I bet the U.S. will soon follow suit...we have so much debt I bet this is purposed as the only solution.. :/

reply to post by lifeissacred


and alongside the willingness of the governments of Europe to dispose of assets that protect the populace from exploitation in many circumstances, they also have eroded the simple right to protest. In the UK it started with the Criminal Justice Act, and in some ways has manifested through Health and safety laws on numbers of people allowed to congregate together, i believe in some areas even permits are required form the Police to protest. Europe has a fantastic history of political evolution through revolution I fear there will never be another with the totalitarian nature of the lands we live in.

By stamping on the rights of the populace to complain about their lot the governments have effectively given themselves carte blanche to do as they will.

Originally posted by mb2591
I bet the U.S. will soon follow suit...we have so much debt I bet this is purposed as the only solution.. :/

Is that why Obama wants the North american Alliance? So he can sell Canada to China (Tongue firmly in cheek!)

Originally posted by spacedonk

Originally posted by mb2591
I bet the U.S. will soon follow suit...we have so much debt I bet this is purposed as the only solution.. :/

Is that why Obama wants the North american Alliance? So he can sell Canada to China

(Tongue firmly in cheek!)

Heh not to china my friend.. Maybe get them in debt to china.. Then those debts will get covered by selling the countries infrastructure. You know who going to buy all the countries infrastructure? The same people who basically collapsed the world economy. The people that are putting together this new world order.

One the surface this does looks like another 9/11 scam. A few profited as many lost out when the storm first hit, then these few people with the cash profit even further as the debt shackles start to grip and the many have to pay out even more, a standard lone shark agreement. With the global economy becoming more based on debts than assets it does look like an orchestrated, premeditated plan. Without any government integrity to sort out 9/11, this Satanist cable is giving the planet one good, hard shafting.

But what do we know as the facts:

1/ Irresponsible and in some cases illegal housing loans was promoted and approved in the USA.

2/ The media did show how this was big trouble brewing, but the state did not care.

3/ The bad loans where put together and sold off around the world as 'Great Investments!!!' as the regulators looked away.

4/ Just like a ticking financial time bomb, when the lie could no longer support the reality it all collapse and the Great Financial Crisis hit. The Stock market crashed, many lost their investments and serious concern was around about a total global economic collapse. To help save of a potential extinction level event, a lot of money flooded the system, but distribution remained mainly within the financial sector.

5/ There have been some minor bandaids, investigations and questions performed, but no real public accountability or transparency to what the hell happened. With some of huge and ongoing losses it just not seam to add up how a few bad housing loans could do so much damage, maybe some Enron economics or other hidden scams are still sitting under the covers?

With some of the bankers causing it, profiting from it and reaping further ongoing gains it does make you want some serious answers. Maybe it is just a series of accidents and stupidity, but then maybe it is something more. With a lot of big unresolved issues remaining, hopefully the truth can still surface before it is too late.

Originally posted by mb2591
WELCOME TO THE PRIVATELY OWNED WORLD!!
Who do you think is going to buy all this #... The top 1/10 of the top 1% wealthiest families in the world..

damn I never thought this was going to be how the NWO came about..but it all makes sense now..

edit on 2-7-2011 by mb2591 because: (no reason given)

edit on 2-7-2011 by mb2591 because: (no reason given)

Let them waster all their money buying perceived power.....

Then, when SHTF and all that becomes useless or even if S does not HTF there will come a point when globally this will happen and people will just be like " NO !" ...

And even if the 1% own our paper and news and healthcare and education and some point , because they aren't as smart as they think they are...they just steal our ideas, they will screw something up.....

Then all the people have to do is just say no and disobey them....

What are the 500 of the going to do,......try adn fight and imprison billions ? when money is worthless what will they pay people off with? How will they have protection from the billions who want them gone ?

If we choose not to let money matter than we win....until then they win...

I hope the U.S govt does this soon too.

2nd.

Harper is already in the process of selling off Canada's government-owned assets. No help from Obama is needed.

www.cbc.ca...

Originally posted by Rockdisjoint
I hope the U.S govt does this soon too.

2nd.

edit on 2-7-2011 by Rockdisjoint because: (no reason given)

shhhhh dont let them know you want it or it won't happen

Originally posted by mb2591
I bet the U.S. will soon follow suit...we have so much debt I bet this is purposed as the only solution.. :/

it may have started already !

China Buying USA

reply to post by xuenchen


Nice find.. these could be used to sneak in soldiers and maintain control..

Originally posted by lifeissacred
It's worrying that sometime in the future we could see all of our national assets on the 'chopping block'.

Could? You mean "will." This is, no question, a globalist plot. Maybe not the way the actual economic crisis went down, but this forcing of nations to privatize public assets, and publicize private debt. Thats pure globalist banker evil there. We are just being picked off one at a time. Weakest to the strongest. They are betting that as long as it only happens to a couple countries at a time, we will all stand around with our thumbs up our butts and watch them do it, until there is no one left to stand up against them.

And sadly, they are likely right. Because humans are self interested, its a strategy that works remarkably well over and over. Like their toppling of middle eastern nations. If those nations banded together, the west would not be able to do what its doing. But they are getting them one by one or a couple at a time at most. Same with Europe.

The worlds people should come together, and resist before its too late.

en.wikipedia.org...

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

reply to post by spacedonk

Below is a lot of the content from this article in the Guardian which runs country by country through the assets being sold/ due to be sold to meet debt commitments. If you read a lot of the content on here the hilarious thing is that the funds/individuals/financial entities that will be buying these prized assets are the very people that lent the governments the money, so in effect the government is giving the assets away for free. Either the government is thick as pig SH** or there really is a massive conspiracy that we have/ are all allowing to happen.

Really, you don't say. Who would of thunk it eh, the fact that this type of swindle has been going on for ages really says that yup there as thick as pig SH**. The only conspiracy is that there all trading there lifeblood for a make believe construct such as money or dept, and doing it gladly. Its all a big scam.

And a parasitic form of it at that, they live and thrive on the idiocy of the sheeple, as well as wherever they go they make sheeple and slaves, to there system of dept, which they uphold as the only thing possible in all of the whole world.

Really if it was not for this parasitic system, we would probably be on mars and beyond by now, and who knows what other things and stuff would be around. Its just another thing in humanity's way that it either must overcome or regress back into the mud eventually. Yay, more statues in the mud! this world is full of them, every civilization of the past leaves them behind, just look at Egypt and its pyramids.

Ah the old I'll lend you something as long as you pay me back with interest scam has been going on forever, and it will go on forever if people don't realize that its a scam, no different then petty drug dealers, or pimps, or con artists, or loan sharking, the only difference is that this scam is decked out in nicer clothes and fancier words, and promises.

You throw your pearls before swine, what do you think will happen.

Here is some Shakespearean for you all.

"A rose by any other name is still a rose, and a pig by any other name is still a pig....Anonymous"

This thread should be getting a lot more attention.. it is basically the beginning of the end.