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EBRD supports privatisation process in Montenegro
€3 million to ensure successful and transparent privatisation of aluminium plant
The EBRD is providing €3 million to launch the privatisation of aluminium company Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica (KAP), a process that will eventually put the largest part of the Montenegrin economy in private hands.
The loan to the Agency of Montenegro for Economic Restructuring and Foreign Investments will enable the government to hire independent, internationally experienced advisors to help sell its 65.5 per cent stake in KAP and implement the privatisation process.
Built in 1971, KAP is not only Montenegro’s largest employer, with 2,860 staff, it also accounts for nearly half of the country’s industrial production. The plant produces around 280,000 tonnes of alumina and 103,000 tonnes of aluminium a year. Dragica Pilipovic-Chaffey, head of the EBRD office in Serbia and Montenegro, said the project shows the government of Montenegro is serious about attracting foreign investment to help fuel economic growth. The government is committed to attracting the best strategic investor in the most open and transparent way, and the EBRD will help them achieve this, Ms Pilipovic-Chaffey added.
The government’s plans to privatise KAP come on the back of the successful privatisation of Jugopetrol Kotor, Montenegro's petrol retailer, sold to Greece's Hellenic Petroleum earlier this year.
Branko Vujovic, Director of the Agency of Montenegro for Economic Restructuring and Foreign Investments, said the government of Montenegro wanted the EBRD on board to ensure the privatisation of KAP is conducted efficiently. “We want to show the international community that we are serious about improving Montenegro’s business climate, and having the EBRD on board confirms that commitment,” he said. Darko Uskokovic, Minister of Economy, added: “By attracting foreign capital, we hope to boost Montenegro’s economic growth.”
The EBRD is the largest investor in Serbia and Montenegro, with €400 million invested in 17 projects.
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