Privatization of Egyptian cinema begins

The Egyptian ministerial committee for privatization chaired by Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzoury, agreed to lease 15 movie theaters to three companies: the Arabic company for cultural and technical production (Shoeaa) in which Libyan and Egyptian businessmen participate; the El-Adl Group company, owned by an Egyptian cinema family; and the Egyptian company for cinematic actions, which is owned by Egyptian businessman Ahmed Bahgat, the owner of numerous investments.

The contracts represent the first stage in the Egyptian government's plan to privatize the Egyptian cinema, which has been under the ownership of the public sector for 30 years. The second stage is selling studios in the coming summer.