EPCG fails to pick lessee of Zeljezara Niksic, to open new tender - report

A deal could not be signed as the bidder did not provide complete documentation in terms of guarantees, public broadcaster RTCG quoted EPCG's deputy financial director, Miro Vracar, as saying.

Earlier this month, EPCG reported that Swiss-registered company 8B Capital S.A. has remained the sole bidder in the public tender for a lease contract, after the offers submitted respectively by a consortium made up of local company Neksan, China’s Universal Energy and Czech Energy & Industrial Management Advisory Services, and a Swedish tie-up comprising Kvalitetsbygg Gruppen and Uber Nordic, were rejected as unacceptable.

EPCG launched the public call to investors for the lease of the steel mill's capacities in December, aiming to preserve steel production at the troubled plant. Under the tender terms, the selected investor will be able to sign a five-year lease contract, with an extension option. The minimum monthly fee for the lease was set at 30,000 euro ($32,600).

EPCG acquired Zeljezara Niksic from Turkey's Toscelik for 20 million euro in December 2022.

Last week, the Montenegrin government said China is interested in investing in energy projects in Niksic, after Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) earlier expressed interest in investing in the country's energy sector.

Located in the western city of Niksic, EPCG Zeljezara has two 60-tonne electric arc furnaces that can produce an estimated 300,000 metric tonnes of crude steel per year.

$ = 0.9211 euro