Smederevo

The Serbian government and the He Steel Group on Monday signed a contract on the sale of the Zelezara Smederevo steel mill.

The Chinese company acquired all 98 property units of the plant for EUR 46 million.

The European Commission (EC) has asked questions in connection with the sale of Zelezara Smederevo and expects answers from the authorities in Serbia.

This is what head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport said on Thursday.

The European Commission "has approved in principle the acquisition of Serbia's sole steel mill Zelezara Smederevo by Chinese company He Steel."

This has been reported on Wednesday by Belgrade-based Blic daily, Tanug said.

The Serbian government and Chinese company He Steel will sign a sales contract for Serbia's sole steel mill Zelezara Smederevo on April 18.

This will happen "if the European Commission gives the go-ahead for the privatization," Serbian government sources told Tanjug.

The Serbian government has adopted a draft framework agreement on investment between China's He Steel Group Co Ltd and the Republic of Serbia.

A commission tasked with implementing the procedure of the sale of the Zeleara Smederevo steel mill assets opened on April 5 a bid submitted by the only participant in the procedure, China's He Steel (formerly known in English as HBIS).

The privatization of the Smederevo steel mill is positive news, the chief World Bank economist in Serbia, Lazar Sestovic, has said.

He added that the same was true of the fact that one of the world's biggest companies in the sector was interested in the plant.

The bid submitted by China's HBIS to privatize the Zelezara Smederevo steel mill was accepted on Tuesday, Tanjug reported.

The price offered is slightly over the required minimum - namely, the Chinese offered EUR 46 million.

Bids to privatize the Smederevo steel mill Zelezara will be opened Friday.

Tanjug reported that China's HBIS is the only company that submitted a bid before the expiry of the deadline.

The tender for the Smederevo steel mill could be issued in February 2016, and the offer from China's HBIS is the most serious one for the time being.

This was announced on Monday by Minister of Economy Zeljko Sertic.

A memorandum will be signed in late November with the Chinese company HBIS, which is interested in acquiring the Zelezara Smederevo steel plant.

Minister of Economy Zejko Sertic made the announcement on Tuesday, according to the government website, and added that the memorandum will be signed during the visit of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to China.