According to official reports in april of this year, the plant was included in the list of enterprises in which the state stake will be auctioned on the international market with the participation of professional consultants.
By the end of the second quarter of 2025, it is planned to hold an auction of 49,9 % of the shares of the plant owned by the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan.
The move is part of a strategy to transform and accelerate the privatisation processes of the country's key enterprises, initiated by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The exclusion of the Cyprus investors from the project through the court of the Reconstruction and Development Fund left losses worth 916.9 billion soums ($72.329 million) and a loan of €179.7 million. Despite this, the plant's management emphasises that debt servicing is done through commercial activities and that the state is not responsible for the company's obligations.
Recall that the plant started operations in December 2020 on an area of 49.7 hectares. The Russian Metprom group acted as the engineer and general contractor of the project. The enterprise was equipped with technologies and automated equipment of the Italian Danieli.
The initial founders were the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan (49.9% or EUR 98.7 million) and the Netherlands Metallurgical Technology and Engineering B.V. (50.1%, EUR 99.1 million).
Following various share sales in April 2023, Metalloinvest Holding (Cyprus) Limited replaced Metallurgical Technology and Engineering B.V. with a 41,8 % stake, while Cyprus-based Miramonte Investments Limited replaced SFI with an 8.2 % stake. At the same time, both of these companies came under US sanctions. In June, it was announced that the plant was under threat of bankruptcy due to the "inaction" of the Cyprus founders.
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