Privatization
The Serbian Government has decided to place a tender on the privatization of RTB Bor to allow for better development and investment for the company in the recent years. The first tender was won by Romanian Cuprom for the bidding price of $400 Million dollars for the company but failed to secure payment guarantees and subsequently lost its bid. A second tender was called soon after, the highest bidders being Austrian A-TEC for $466 Million plus 180.4 Million in investment and Russian SMR at $370 million plus $413 million in investment. A-TEC was awarded the contract for the highest bid which received some criticism from some stressing that SMR made a better offer with its larger investment pledge. After the sighing of the contract was made the first $150 Million dollars was delivered by A-TEC, problems arose however after A-TEC missed its deadline for the second payment at $230 Million. The Serbian Minister of Economy, Mlađan Dinkić moved to have the contract canceled stressing that A-TEC did not honor their contract. A-TEC made several attempts to rectify the problem by increasing their offer slightly for an extended deadline. The company announced it was having trouble securing bank guarantees due to the global recession. It announced that it had secured the next payment with the help of the Austrian government. A-TEC was not permitted to see the $150 million dollars it had already paid fore returned. The Serbian government at this time had however voted to scrap the contract and offer Russian SMR the second ranked bidder a chance to purchase RTB Bor. SMR was contacted by the privatization agency and entered negotiations about the previous offer made. Over all interest was lost by SMR as they decided not to change their first offer and stated they would not do so in the future. As such the second tender had officially failed.
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