Basic Element of Oleg Deripaska, on the photo, may lose in the tender for Serbian RTB Bor copper facilities.
Photo: Vasily Alexandrov
|
 |
Basic Element Underestimates RTB Bor
Basic Element of Oleg Deripaska may lose in the tender for Serbian RTB Bor copper facilities. It emerged Friday that its rival, Austrian A-Tec Industries, offered nearly $100 million more for the asset. The tender commission is inclined to back up A-Tec, although the investment program of Basic Element is much more attractive. Regardless, the political relations of Russia and Serbia will probably help Basic Element in the tender.
The tender commission opened Friday the applications of two bidders for RTB Bor – Brixlegg copper producer from Austrian A-Tec Industries and Strikeforce that stands for Russia’s Basic Element in the tender.
According to Reuters, Brixlegg ($466 million) outbid Strikeforce ($370 million) by nearly $100 million. But the tender commission needs time to determine a successful bidder. The thing is that investment proposal of Strikeforce appears much more advantageous. Brixlegg has promised to invest only the required minimum of $180 million, while the firm of Basic Element stands ready to inject as much as $462 million.
RTB Bor is a full-cycle copper complex of Copper Mines Bor, Copper Mine Majdanpek, Smelter and Refinery. Some 858,000 tons of ore were produced in the first half of 2007; the concentrate output reached 94,000 tons; blister copper production was 22,000 tons; cathode copper – 17,000 tons. The facilities operate at 50-percent capacity.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 26, 2007
|
|
|
