GENEVA, Nov 26: Switzerland’s finance minister on Saturday justified a block on major foreign acquisitions by the top telecommunications operator Swisscom, saying the state, as main shareholder, could not take risks with one of its biggest assets.

Hans-Rudolf Merz said in an interview with the weekly Finanz und Wirtschaft that the situation underlined the need to fully privatise Swisscom under plans to sell the federal government’s 66-per cent stake announced earlier this week.

“The Swiss Federal Council (cabinet) can, and does not want to, bear the risks that foreign ventures bring,” Merz told the business weekly, underlining his responsibility to the taxpayer.

“Even more so when the shareholding is worth 17 billion Swiss francs (11 billion euros, 13 billion dollars) and is one of the federal state’s biggest investments,” he added.

Swisscom’s management has been trawling around for foreign acquisitions for several years.

The unusual straitjacket was announced Friday, just a day after the Swiss government said it wanted to sell its stake.

Merz admitted that the company’s and the government’s interests were no longer compatible.

“The confederation is obviously no longer the right shareholder for Swisscom,” the finance minister said, underlining the need to give the group a free rein on an “intensely competitive market”.

“The company is well positioned and in a position to foot such risks,” he added.

Swiss authorities want a swift privatisation, but it could take at least three years under Switzerland’s legislative process.

While draft legislation necessary to pull out of the majority stake is under consideration, Merz wants to take advantage of the right market conditions to cut down the public shareholding to 50 per cent plus one vote.

“That means that we won’t sell easily at any price, we’ll keep a close watch on the share price,” he said.—AFP