Russians urge new RTB Bor tender

Russians urge new RTB Bor tender

On April 25, the Privatization Agency officially terminated the purchase deal worth USD 400mn concluded with Romanian Cuprom—which won the tender for RTB Bor announced on September 1, 2006—since Cuprom failed to submit financial guarantees within the set deadline.

Earlier this month, Economy and Regional Development Minister Mlađan Dinkić said that the government would enter into negotiations with the consortium, comprised of Cypriot East Point Company and London-based ORN investment fund, which came second in the tender.

Nonetheless, the Russian company said it closely monitored developments regarding the sale of the RTB Bor complex, and made preparations to take part in a new tender:

“We were very surprised to hear that the Serbian government decided to negotiate with the ORN-East Point Consortium,” the letter said.

“We believe this was wrong interpretation, given that the previous tender was declared unsuccessful and was cancelled in line with the law. In our opinion, any new negotiations with other bidders from such a tender run against the [Serbian] Privatization Law.”

“Since we are a prominent Russian and international company, we consider ourselves worthy of becoming valuable strategic partners to RTB Bor and Serbia. We hereby express our interest and serious intentions when it comes to bidding in a new tender for RTB Bor,” the letter concluded.

The Basic Element Company has assets in Russia, Kirgizia and Mongolia, and employs 290,000 people. It pulls in more than US$ 13bn a year in revenues.

The final decision on the continuation of the RTB Bor privatization has been delayed for the time being, until the environmental strategy for the company has been mapped out, according to the government.

Representatives of the East Point Company said they would comment on the delay of the announced procedure upon receiving an official note from the Privatization Agency.