Alisher Usmanov (right) is ready to list the benefits of his proposal to former competitor Vladimir Yakunin.
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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Metalloinvest Wins Copper Super-Mine
Alisher Usmanov’s Metalloinvest has won the competition for the Udokan copper deposit in Chita Region, the third largest deposit on Earth. The results of the competition were announced a week ahead of schedule, which deprived Metalloinvest’s competitor, Russian Railways head Vladimir Yakunin, of time to obtain support from the Russian president. Metalloinvest will invest $4.2 billion in the project, and its partners, Rostekhnologia state corporation and Norilsk Nickel, will contribute assets in Mongolia and Russia. The state had been trying to sell the deposit, which has reserves of 19.7 million tons, since 1992.
The federal Rosnedry agency named the Mikhailovsky mining and processing plant, part of the Metalloinvest holding, the winner of the competition for the license to develop the Udokan copper deposit yesterday, even as Russian Copper consortium leader Yakunin was meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Yakunin’s partners in the consortium are the Urals mining and processing plant and Vneshekonombank. Usmanov had met with the president on Tuesday. Rosnedry head Anatoly Ledovskikh told Kommersant that it became possible to curtail the competition after the main competitors submitted their mandatory 4.5-billion rubles deposits and it became clear that the other contenders – Norilsk Nickel, ONEXIM and Basic Element – would not participate in the competition.
The 12 members of the competition commission were informed of the move by telegram on September 6. They met yesterday and came to a unanimous decision in favor of Metalloinvest after a four-hour meeting. A well-informed source told Kommersant that the commission was swayed toward Metalloinvest by its promise to build a processing plant at the deposit and to include the shares of the Mongolian enterprises Erdenet and Mongolrostsvetmet that the Russian government intends to transfer to Rostekhnologia in the joint venture. Metalloinvest proposes to reach a capacity of 150,000 tons of cathode copper per year at the deposit by 2014 and 474,000 tons by 2016. The license to develop the deposit costs 15 billion rubles, which has to be paid within 30 days.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 11, 2008
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