Macedonian Court Cancels Sale of Lead, Zinc Smelter MHK Zletovo - Media

A Turkish firm that was second-ranked in a tender held in June has appealed the sale in court, claiming that Metrudhem had been favoured in the tender procedure, Vecer said, but gave no further details.

Metrudhem is a subsidiary of Swiss metals company Mineco, which is the largest creditor of MHK Zletovo, according to Skopje-based private TV channel A1.

Previous attempts to sell the idled smelter had failed due to legal hurdles posed by Zletovo's complex ownership structure.

London-based Binani Group of Industry, which owns the Macedonian lead and zinc mines Zletovo and Toranica, expressed interest to buy the smelter last year, but did not take part in the last tender. MHK Zletovo is designed to work with metal ore from those mines.

Residents of the central city of Veles, where MHK Zletovo is based, have raised concerns over the plant’s pollution and demanded investments in environmentally friendly installations. Mineco has pledged to install filters in order to reduce pollution.

Before the smelter was idled in 2004, it produced an average of 60,000 tonnes of zinc, 28,000 tonnes of lead and 2,300 tonnes of silver a year.

($ = 0.7119 euro)