The sale of the Lece gold mine near Medveđa, which was postponed by the Valjevo Commercial Court due to creditors’ objections, has seen revenue of 22.7 billion dinars from its bankruptcy initiation in May 2017 until August 14. Most of this revenue comes from the sale of lead and zinc concentrates, according to a draft report for the 20th distribution reviewed by Biznis.rs.
During this period, outflows totaled 22.3 billion dinars, meaning the mine is “in the black” regarding its operations during bankruptcy. The announcement of the mine’s sale, part of the troubled Farmakom MB Group, has drawn attention for two reasons: the starting price of four billion dinars for the mine as a legal entity (one billion more than, for example, the Hotel Jugoslavija) and the high cost of 129 million dinars for purchasing the sales documentation.
The high cost of the sales documentation remains unexplained, but the starting price at the auction relates to the mine’s estimated value of eight billion dinars. Miroslav Bogićević, owner of the bankrupt Farmakom MB Group, has sharply criticized this valuation.
“The mine’s value has been deliberately undervalued,” Bogićević told Beta, accusing the undervaluation of benefiting a businessman who “seized” the Šabac dairy from Farmakom. He claimed the true value of the gold mine is 4.3 billion euros.
The Valjevo court, as reported by Forbes Serbia, stated in its August 20 decision to postpone the sale that “no reasons were provided for why selling the mine as a legal entity was deemed the best approach, as there was no comparison between the total value of the mine as a legal entity and the value of its individual assets.” The Lece mine has allocated 5.5 million dinars for evaluations and expert reports, including assessments of asset value and mineral reserves. Currently, the bankruptcy administration’s data is the only available information about Lece Mine’s operations, officially named “Rudnik Lece d.o.o. Šabac – in Bankruptcy.”
According to the draft for the 20th distribution, as of August 14, the mine’s reserves amount to 645.3 million dinars, including stockpiles of ore in the warehouse valued at 512 million dinars, lead and zinc concentrates, and other materials.
Creditors and disputes
The decision to sell the Lece gold mine has been contested by creditors Moderano Investments d.o.o. and Alta banka from Belgrade. Alta banka represents Jubmes banka, which was acquired by the Alta Pay Group led by Davor Macura in early 2019.
The draft for the 20th distribution indicates that creditors will be able to share 2.5 million dollars, accumulated from the bankruptcy proceedings, amounting to just over 266 million dinars.
Among the creditors are Jubmes (Alta) banka and Moderano Investments, as well as Utma Komerc owned by Dragoslav Bojović – director of Energoprojekt and owner of Napred, Messer Tehnogas, Telekom Srbija, Dunav osiguranje, Halkbank, Universal Bank in bankruptcy, Mediolanum Invest and others.
One of the largest creditors is the Swiss-based company MIFI, whose president is Velimir Jovanović. MIFI has recognized claims of at least 11 billion dinars against the Lece mine. Forbes Serbia previously reported that “Velimir Jovanović, owner of Mediolanum Invest,” might be involved in the auction to purchase the mine, possibly competing against a Chinese company.
Miodrag Bogićević, owner of Farmakom MB Group, praised President Aleksandar Vučić’s suggestion to consider a state purchase of the mine as the most sensible and fair option. Bogićević expressed his intention to prevent the mine’s misappropriation, stating, “I am trying to stop the theft of the mine, and if possible, I will buy it to prevent it from going to a ‘crook’,” following the postponement of the sale.
