KIEV, Feb. 12 - Italy's UniCredit Bank and Bank Austria Creditanstalt have proposed serving as financial advisors in the upcoming privatization of Ukrtelecom based on their experience in privatizing similar companies in Central and Eastern Europe, Vitaly Lukianenko, an advisor to the Ukrainian first deputy prime minister, told Interfax.

The leadership of the banks put forward an initiative at a meeting with the first deputy prime minister on Saturday to hold an international conference with the participation of representatives from Eastern and Central European states, where the privatization of such large companies has been carried out successfully," Lukianenko said.