BELGRADE (Serbia), February 21 (SeeNews) – Two Serbian companies showed interest in a public tender for the sale of agricultural company Poljoprivredna Korporacija Beograd (PKB), local media reported.
The two Serbian firms that sent letters of interest are conglomerate MK Group and entrepreneur Petar Matijevic, the owner of meat processing group Industrija mesa Matijevic, daily Politika said on Monday.
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Investors from China, Singapore and the United Kingdom too are interested in the tender, public broadcaster Radio Televizija Srbije (RTS) reported on Monday, quoting government sources.
UAE-based Al Dahra has not sent a letter of interest so far but could still place a bid for PKB at a later stage, RTS said.
The Serbian government said in January that the CEO of Al Dahra, Khadim Al Darei, met Serbian prime minister Aleksandar Vucic on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos to express the interest of the company in the purchase of PKB.
In January, Serbia's privatisation agency invited investors to send letters of interest, in order to determine the best model for the privatisation of the firm. The deadline for sending the letters was February 17 and candidates were required to offer an indicative price, business plan, investment programme and employment plan for PKB.
The tender will remain open to all investors, regardless of whether they sent a letter of interest or not, RTS said.
PKB employs 1,622. The company's capital amounts to 51.2 billion dinars ($436,200/413,800 euro).
(1 euro = 123.726 dinars)