Big Russian companies are not giving up on their plan to take over Petrohemija and are considered the most likely partners of this petro-chemical complex in the town of Pancevo.
Several Russian companies have expressed interested in buying this Pancevo-based company, and the tendering procedure for the privatization will start in February 2019.
“This takeover is a part of the economic package that Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, is bringing to Serbia in mid-January”, the Vecernje Novosti learns from unofficial sources.
Last year, Petrohemija had the largest net profit in Serbia. After 47.7% of its debt was written off and a part of its liabilities were converted into company shares, the company’s profit in 2017 reached the amount of 40.4 billion dinars. As Novosti’s source says, the Russians are very interested in cooperating with Petrohemija.
The source adds that, if the Russians abandon the takeover for some reason, Serbia has plan B, counting on Chinese companies. Which Chinese companies are also interested in acquiring Petrohemija will be reveled during the official visit of the Chinese President, Xi Jinping to Serbia in April 2019. The Chinese president is supposed to arrive with a Chinese business delegation.
In the previous years, there were several attempts to find a buyer for Petrohemija, but to no avail. Last year, the Ministry of Economy invited interested parties to purchase three companies, including Petrohemija, with two letters of interested submitted for the Pancevo company.
“The last year’s public call was not binding. It served only to test the ‘pulse’ in the domestic and foreign business community, namely how interested they were in purchasing these companies. Unlike this call, the call that will be launched in February will be binding”, the source says.
Source; Serbian Monitor
