July 1 (SeeNews) - A multinational company based in Dubai is interested in taking over Bosnia's ailing aluminium producer Aluminij, local media reported.
Representatives of the unnamed company are expected to meet government officials of Bosnia's Federation in Sarajevo on July 4 and discuss their interest in Aluminij, news daily Dnevni Avaz reported on Sunday, quoting unnamed sources.
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The report also says that government officials held talks late last week with representatives of Aluminij and power producer Elektroprivreda HZHB (EP HZHB) who failed to agree on long-term power supplies for the aluminium company. Thus, one of the options for Aluminij now is to purchase electricity on a daily basis, although EP HZHB will only agree to it if Aluminij provides clear bank guarantees that it will pay its bills.
Last week, the Federation government launched negotiations with British-Swiss company Glencore on finding ways to rescue Aluminij. The talks were focused on a possible restructuring of Aluminij, which would involve establishing of consortium of companies led by Glencore and comprising Bosnian aluminium processor Feal and local companies PPD and Erdal.
After the talks, energy minister Nermin Dzindic stressed that the government cannot subsidise Aluminij's electricity consumption, which is a key element in the company's operations since its unpaid electricity bills already total 207 million marka ($120 million/106 million euro).
Glencore is expected to present more details on the possible models of cooperation in the coming days, the government has said.
According to the Dnevni Avaz report, Glencore has asked the government to subsidise Aluminij's electricity bills in return for taking over the Mostar-based aluminium producer.
The report also recalls that Aluminij's debts are raising daily, reaching almost 380 million marka at the end of June, including nearly 280 million marka due to EP HZHB.
The aluminium smelter is based in the Federation, one of the two autonomous entities that form Bosnia. The other is the Serb Republic.
The Federation government controls 44% of Aluminij, followed by the Croatian government with 12%, while the remainder belongs to smaller shareholders.
(1 euro = 1.95583 marka)
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