ISLAMABAD, Aug 3: Open balloting of the shares of Pakistan Petroleum Limited for distribution among the smaller subscribers for 500 shares each will be held at Karachi on Wednesday (today).

The Minister for Privatization and Investment, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, will preside over the proceedings. The public subscription to the Initial Public Offer of the government's stakes was held all over the country last month.

After balloting, the Privatization Commission stated here on Tuesday, the shares would be transferred to the Central Depository Company (CDC) or physically dispatched to successful applicants by the end of August.

The balloting, to be held at Sheraton Hotel at 7 pm, will be open for the general public. Prior to start of the process, the balloter will explain the process. The computer will randomly pick out numbers of successful applicants.

Their list will be sent to main branches of the banks on August 5 for onward transmission to the respective branches. Refunds to unsuccessful applicants will be completed by August 14.

The Privatization Commission received a record number of 755,000 applications for 500 shares. The computer balloting will select 205,750 successful applicants.