Esmark Inc. sole valid bidder for Zelezara privatization

BELGRADE - A total of three bids arrived in a tender for the privatization of Zelezara Smederevo and only one offer, by US company Esmark Inc., was valid, Bojan Bojkovic, chair of the Commission for the implementation of the Strategic Partnership model for the privatization of the Serbian steelworks, said Friday.

Esmark should acquire an 80.01 stake in the steelworks and Bojkovic expects the relevant contract to be signed no later than January 31.

He also expects negotiations with Esmark to be completed between January 15 and 17, so that the contract could be signed on January 30, or on the last day of the month at the latest.

Bojkovic, who is also Zelezara's executive director, said that there were two more letters with bids and their senders were unknown.

Esmark complied with all the terms of the tender, and the Commission will review this offer in detail during the day, said Bojkovic.

On December 5, 2014, the Privatization Agency of the Republic of Serbia issued an invitation to tender for a strategic partner with a capital input in the steel plant, where the government is to preserve a 19.99 percent stake in Zelezara's ownership structure.

Letters of interest for the privatization of Zelezara Smederevo had been sent by ten companies, and six of them filed requests for the purchase of privatization documents. Esmark's offer has been assessed as the best one.

Esmark's founder, chairman and CEO James Bouchard told Tanjug recently that the company would invest USD 400 million in the Serbian steel plant over the following few years if it won the tender, adding that nobody would lose their job at the plant.

He stressed that Esmark would invest USD 28 million in Zelezara Smederevo in 2015 alone,...