July 23 (SeeNews) - Serbia's government needs to sell state-run petrochemicals producer HIP Petrohemija, in order to avoid problems with the company in the medium term, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) resident representative in Serbia, Sebastian Sosa, said.
"Even though in the last few years the company has been making profits and there are no short-term concerns, now is the right time to resolve the situation of the company," Sosa said in a video file posted on the website of news agency Tanjug on Monday.
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In May, Dragan Stevanovic, state secretary at the economy ministry, said Serbia plans to open a tender for the sale of HIP Petrohemija by the end of the year. According to Serbian media reports, investors from Russia, Poland and Romania have expressed interest in the privatisation of the company.
The Serbian authorities’ plan to move forward expeditiously with the privatisation of HIP Petrohemija under the 30-month Policy Coordination Instrument-supported programme for Serbia approved by the Fund in June 2018.
Serbian oil and gas group NIS, majority owned by Russia's Gazprom Neft, owns 12.72% shareholding interest in HIP Petrohemija, according to the teaser prospectus of the petrochemical group posted on the website of Serbia's privatisation agency. State-owned Srbijagas owns 13.38%, 4.87% is controlled by power distributor Elektrovojvodina doo Novi Sad. The Serbian government owns directly 54.89% and controls a further 13.63% via the country's Development Fund.