RUSSIAN ‘INDUSTRIAL INVESTORS’ ACQUIRE ARMENIAN GOLD-MINER
arminfo
2007-07-04 22:01:00
Signing of a contract about sale of the Ararat Gold Recovery Company
(AGRC) is expected the next week between the "Madneuli" Georgian
Company, the owner of which is the "Industrial Investors" Russian
financial-industrial group and the chief beneficiary is the Russian
oligarch Sergey Generalov, and the Vedanta Indian Corporation, a
source in one of the biggest British Consulting companies told ArmInfo.
According to the source, the deal may sum to $80 mln-$100
mln. Consultations on a specific price are still underway, while a
memorandum about intentions was signed last Sunday. Earlier, Director
General of AGRC B.K. Sharma told ArmInfo that 30 companies took
part initially in the contest on sale of AGRC assets. Afterwards,
only 3-4 companies remained after aggravation of relations with RA
government. B. K. Sharma emphasized that the Company’s management
did not agree with the tax claims of the state at the rate of $12
mln. These claims were presented as a result of inspections of AGRC
activity in a period from 2000 to 2006. In the issue, the management
of Vedanta, owning the AGRC assets, had to start searching the buyers.
To recall, the shares of Madneuli ore mining and processing company
passed on to the Russian Group via its subsidiary "Stranton Equits
Corporation" British Company at $51,1 mln. The AGRC exploits the
Sodk gold deposit in Armenia, the reserves of which are estimated of
80 tons.