Montenegro Steel Factory Goes Up For Sale

Investors from Turkey, India, Ukraine, Russia, Slovakia and Germany have shown interest in buying shares of the steel plant, one of Montenegro's largest firms. Its initial price is listed at €30 million.

The only concrete offer so far, however, has come from the company's former owner, the Dutch-based Montenegro Specialty Steels (MNSS BV). The firm has offered a price much lower than the one the government in Podgorica and the factory’s workers had hoped for.

Jo de Haas, the spokesman for MNSS VB, told Montenegrin media he is certain that his company's offer of €12.5 million will be the highest in the tender. The value of the steel plant has been estimated at €28 million.

The majority of Niksic Steel Plant shares were transfered to MNSS BV in 2008, when the old company, under the same name, changed its headquarters and ownership structure.

Since then, the former industrial giant has witnessed a decrease in the number of workers and an increase in the firm's debts, the biggest share of which goes to its most recent owner.

The bankruptcy of the steel plant, declared in April and confirmed in November 2011, was met with dissatisfaction by the company's workers. The Dutch-based investors, however, have said that as the single biggest creditor, they have been mistreated.

Janko Vucinic, the leader of the steel plant’s workers’ union, appealed to the government
to prevent the former owner from participating in the privatization. He said that if the right
investors cannot be found, the state and workers should take over the factory.

This is the fourth time shares in the Niksic plant have changed hands. Companies from Russia and Great Britain previously held shares.