PODGORICA (Montenegro), October 18 (SeeNews) – Chinese and Arab investors are interested in the privatisation of a stake in Montenegrin port operator Luka Bar [MNG:LUBA], the country's transport minister Osman Nurkovic said.
The government has not given up its plans to privatise Luka Bar after the talks for the sale of a 30% state-owned stake in the operator of Montenegro's Bar seaport to Polish OT Logistic were terminated earlier this year, Nurkovic told SeeNews on Monday on the sidelines of the business leaders’ Summit100 gathering in Macedonia's capital Skopje.
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Bar port is very attractive to investors, but the Montenegrin government plans to set aside some of its assets and focus on the privatisation of the core activity of Luka Bar, Nurkovic said.
The Chinese investors are interested in including the port in a corridor for the export of cargo to central Europe, he noted.
China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) is currently building a motorway connecting Bar to Boljare, on the Montenegrin border with Serbia. The Serbian government plans to start the construction of two motorway sections, namely Preljina-Pozega and Pozega-Boljare, connecting Bar to Belgrade.
In December, OT Logistics placed the sole bid in a tender for the sale of 30% of Luka Bar, offering 8.52 million euro ($10 million) for the stake. In January, the Polish company made also the sole bid for the privatisation of 51% of railway freight operator Montecargo, offering 2.5 million euro and committing to a 17.45 million euro investment programme.
However, in April, Nurkovic said that the government had terminated the talks for the sale of Luka Bar and Montecargo to OT Logistics as the selected privatisation model was not in the best interests of the seller.
($=0.8503 euro)