PM meets with another potential bidder for steel plant

PM meets with another potential bidder for steel plant

The Serbian government will launch a procedure to privatize Železara and expects Krasny Oktyabr to be one of the bidders in a transparent privatization process aimed at finding the best solution for Železara.

Vučić stressed the importance of preserving jobs and ensuring the continuity of operation of the sole producer of steel and steel alloys in Serbia.

Krasny Oktyabr is one of the biggest producers of high-quality special type rolled steel for automotive, aerospace, chemical, oil, energy and machine-building industries, the release said.

It is part of the Uralvagonzavod corporation, which has been one of the candidates to take over the Serbian steelworks in the past.

The Russian company's director met with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić in April, and on this occasion expressed interest in the Serbian steelworks.

The Volgogradskiy Metallurgicheskiy Zavod Krasny Oktyabr Closed Joint-Stock Company is one of the biggest producers of steel for the automotive and aerospace industries and for chemical, energy and oil facilities in Russia.

Železara Smederevo is generating yearly losses of as much as EUR 102 million.

Earlier this month, the prime minister met with another possible buyer, the U.S. company Esmark.