* The receiver will auction off the viable mines
* Six investors are interested
The mines of SC "Moldomin" SA Moldova Nouă are currently in the process of being auctioned off, together with their operating license. The mines and the copper reserves are worth approximately 1 billion Euros, said Răzvan Zăvăleanu, managing partner of "RTZ & Partners", the receiver of "Moldomin".
He had the following to say about this rather unusual privatization process: "The company owes about 50 million Euros, mostly to the state. The ANAF (ed. note: National Tax Administration Agency), the company"s main creditor, recently opened the bankruptcy procedure for Moldomin, for which we evaluated all its assets, including the mines, their potential and the value of their exploitations based on the massive investments they made into their retooling. Basically, what we are doing is not selling the company off piece by piece, we are privatizing it, with the involvement of the ANRM (National Agency for Mineral Resources) and of various decision makers of the state and what we are doing now is selecting an investor. The company"s copper exploitations must be taken over by strong companies, which have experience in the industry, which would continue the mining operations with modern technology and protecting the environment".
In order to be profitable, the copper mines need investments of about 150 million Euros. Even though not all the reserves are exploitable, after the modernization, investors could make a profit of 3-400 million Euros, given the current trends and prices for metals on the international markets, the representative of "RTZ & Partners" said.
The receiver of "Moldomin" and the Romanian authorities have been negotiating with six private investors of the USA, Canada, China and Israel.
"Only some of them went further with the negotiations and wi
