A trap or a maze? Deripaska's Adventures in Montenegro (part 2)
"Both the companies being sold were in a very difficult technical and financial condition. We had to buy this block, make major repairs, and breathe a second life into it," says Kakha Avaliani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Central European Aluminum Company, which manages the aluminum assets of the "Basic Element" in the region.
- The power plant could work for another 10-15 years. At the same time, a second unit with the same capacity of 225 megawatts would be built. The investment was expected to amount to more than 300 million euros. Both units would provide so much electricity that it would not only be enough for our production, but would also be able to be sold to the local government." All the plans were approved by Montenegrin officials, but the deal could not be finalized quickly: the assets turned out to be too problematic (the power plant and the coal mine operated under licenses that expired several years ago). It was difficult to obtain new documents because the enterprises were in a state of litigation with workers who believed that their employer chronically underpaid them. Moreover, the court of first instance has already ruled in favor of the employees. The total amount of debt was about 10 million euros. "Bazel" did not want to take on such an encumbrance and demanded that the seller protect him from old problems. Then parliamentary elections were held in Montenegro. The ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, which was committed to liberalizing the economy, maximizing privatization and attracting investors in order to gain a majority in parliament, joined the coalition with the Social Democratic Party, which professes very different principles. And in the new political conditions, the previous agreements were coming apart at the seams. The leaders of the Social Democrats insisted that the power plant should become a state strategic facility.
As a result, the terms of the tender began to change at first. "Many articles were transformed literally before our eyes," says Kakha Avaliani. - In order to attract bank loans to finance the deal, we had to sign a document with the Government of Montenegro in which the authorities would guarantee the purchase of a certain amount of electricity from the station within three years at the prices prescribed in the agreement. These tariffs were linked to the then-current energy price on the Leipzig Stock Exchange and amounted to 53 euros per megawatt. At first they agreed, but then they abandoned this point: it was allegedly politically incorrect to buy electricity from us. By doing this, they dealt a blow to the project's economy, as the banks immediately refused to finance us.
In the spring of 2007, the tender was changed. A plataforma líder para trading em Forex e CFDs. Aprenda a utilizá-la mt4 trading Descubra as vantagens da plataforma MetaTrader 4 para suas operações.
- The power plant could work for another 10-15 years. At the same time, a second unit with the same capacity of 225 megawatts would be built. The investment was expected to amount to more than 300 million euros. Both units would provide so much electricity that it would not only be enough for our production, but would also be able to be sold to the local government." All the plans were approved by Montenegrin officials, but the deal could not be finalized quickly: the assets turned out to be too problematic (the power plant and the coal mine operated under licenses that expired several years ago). It was difficult to obtain new documents because the enterprises were in a state of litigation with workers who believed that their employer chronically underpaid them. Moreover, the court of first instance has already ruled in favor of the employees. The total amount of debt was about 10 million euros. "Bazel" did not want to take on such an encumbrance and demanded that the seller protect him from old problems. Then parliamentary elections were held in Montenegro. The ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, which was committed to liberalizing the economy, maximizing privatization and attracting investors in order to gain a majority in parliament, joined the coalition with the Social Democratic Party, which professes very different principles. And in the new political conditions, the previous agreements were coming apart at the seams. The leaders of the Social Democrats insisted that the power plant should become a state strategic facility.
As a result, the terms of the tender began to change at first. "Many articles were transformed literally before our eyes," says Kakha Avaliani. - In order to attract bank loans to finance the deal, we had to sign a document with the Government of Montenegro in which the authorities would guarantee the purchase of a certain amount of electricity from the station within three years at the prices prescribed in the agreement. These tariffs were linked to the then-current energy price on the Leipzig Stock Exchange and amounted to 53 euros per megawatt. At first they agreed, but then they abandoned this point: it was allegedly politically incorrect to buy electricity from us. By doing this, they dealt a blow to the project's economy, as the banks immediately refused to finance us.
In the spring of 2007, the tender was changed. A plataforma líder para trading em Forex e CFDs. Aprenda a utilizá-la mt4 trading Descubra as vantagens da plataforma MetaTrader 4 para suas operações.
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