The Swiss company 8B Capital SA was the only one to apply for individual negotiations for the lease of the facilities of the Nikšić Željezara - Čeličana and Kovačnica plant, it was officially told to "Vijesta" from Elektroprivreda (EPCG).
The state energy company, after two failed tenders for the lease of the Ironworks, in which steel production would be started, decided to enter into individual negotiations with companies that participated in tender procedures and are interested in individual negotiations.
"Numerous elements are being agreed upon, everything will go to the Board of Directors and to the relevant Ministry of Energy and Mining and the Government, and we cannot give independent assessments about the certainty now", was the answer to "Vijesti" when asked what stage the negotiations are in and whether it is realistic to reach the tenant during them.
The EPCG said that until then they still have an adopted activity plan in Železara, which ensures the continuity of work and business, and which largely refers to the securing of property and the construction and installation of structures for solar power plants on the Slano, Vrtac and Krupac dams, as well as on the large part of the ground and roof surfaces.
The Swiss company was the only one to sign up for the second EPCG public call for the lease of the Ironworks, for which bids were opened in mid-April. The EPCG community then concluded that the offer was unsatisfactory because there was neither a bank guarantee nor a deposit payment.
In the public call, a three-month guarantee in the amount of 1,5 million euros was requested, which will be considered in the negotiation process because many interested companies have just asked for the amount of the guarantee to be reduced.
The Swiss company 8B Capital SA was also eliminated in the second round at the first public call due to unsecured bank guarantees.
On March 15, EPCG announced the second public invitation for which bids could be submitted until April 28.
Three applications were received for the first call for the lease of iron works - from the Swiss company 8B Capital SA, a consortium consisting of the Nikšić company Neksan Miodrag Daka Davidović, the Chinese Universal Energy and the Czech Energy & Industrial Management Advisory Services, and the Swedish consortium Kvalitets Bygg - Uber Nordic. Two consortia were then excluded from the bidding for Željezara because these potential investors asked for certain conditions that could not be fulfilled, so only the Swiss company remained in the game, with whom the talks continued, but that offer was also not accepted due to technical deficiencies.
In the letter of intent previously sent to EPCG, the Swiss company stated that they have long-term partnerships with several companies in the world, and financial assistance from a fund from the United Arab Emirates. They believe that by reducing costs by five percent, they would increase production by 30 percent, and that they would initially try to achieve a continuous production cycle in three shifts and a production of 2.500 finished products per month.
"In the first phase, they would carry out a technical-technological review and determine the necessary investments in order to prepare production and auxiliary equipment for a continuous production process. Based on the contract with the previous owners and the determination of the condition of the equipment for the last ten years, the level of necessary investments to restore the existing equipment and meet the conditions for restarting production in the mentioned two companies amounts to EUR 5,5-6 million", is the plan of 8B Capital.
In the second phase of development, they plan to invest in the Forge in order to increase the capacity and therefore the volume of production of forged carbon steel and alloys up to 5.000 tons per month, which would imply an increase in annual production from 30 thousand tons of forged steel to 60 thousand tons. In the third phase, according to their plan, annual production would be 60.000 tons of finished products, and they would invest in continuous casting equipment and combined rolling mills, which would allow them to produce 120.000 tons of reinforced concrete and 60.000 tons of "special steel metals." .
Production would start with 25 hired workers, and in the sixth month of the lease, that number would be 150, and the number of production workers would gradually increase.
Their condition was that the contract should state that, in addition to the advertised lease for a period of five years, they are looking for five more, and that if in three or four years they prove that they have achieved the plan, they will be able to purchase the ironworks.
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