Early July to see public call for Zelezara Smederevo

(Photo: zelsd.rs)

Public call for all interested investors for Zelezara Smederevo will be published in early July, the minister of economy, Dusan Vujovic, has announced today.

On the second day of the European Summit of Serbia, he said to journalists that there are seven or eight interested investors with whom they are negotiating but that as for now, he cannot reveal their names.

- Discussions have already been done with two investors and will continue with others and we expect them to be finished by early July when the public call will be released – Vujovic said.

He said that investors will be invited to provide their proposals for Zelezara Smederevo and that after that it will be decided on the privatization model .

Vujovic pointed out that the process should lend by September and that then it will be known whether there are interested investors for Zelezara.

As of February 2012, after acquiring a plant for a dollar from American U.S. Steel, the Government of Serbia which owns Zelezara, set up in May a group which is negotiating with investors interested in Smederevo-based plant.

The minister of economy, Dusan Vujovic, who said it is important that at least minimal production should be maintained in Zelezara which costs EUR 8 mil monthly to the state.

The government claims that four foreign companies showed interest in buying Zelezara which employs around 5.000 people.

So far, tender for sales of Zelezara has been published twice but there was no offer.