October 23 (SeeNews) - Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday the government plans to resume next year talks on the restructuring of petrochemicals producer HIP Petrohemija.
The current market conditions are favourable for Petrohemija which has 80 million euro ($93.9 million) of cash in its bank account, Vucic said in a video file posted on the website of news agency Tanjug.
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"Currently, we have no problems with Petrohemija. Next year, we can negotiate the further transformation of the company. There is no rush," Vucic said during the launch of the construction of a deep refining unit at the Pancevo refinery of oil group NIS [BEL:NIIS].
Last month, Russian media reported that Gazprom Neft plans to acquire the entire capital of Petrohemija, as the company is the main partner of local subsidiary NIS. Moreover, Gazprom Neft plans to increase its stake in Petrohemija to 21% in the next six months, Russian business daily Kommersant said quoting market sources back in August.
Gazprom Neft controls a 56.15% stake in the capital of NIS, a supplier of raw materials to Petrohemija. NIS, in turn, owns a 12.72% stake in the capital of Petrohemija, according to data from the teaser prospectus of the petrochemical group posted on the website of Serbia's privatisation agency.
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