Metalferos Is Up for Sale Again

On April 19, 2021, an auction for the state-owned shares sale will begin on the Moldovan Stock Exchange (regulated market). The auction has been initiated by the Public Property Agency, which privatized stakes of 15 joint-stock companies from various spheres of the national economy, 11 of which have stakes exceeding 90% of the authorized capital, mold-street.com writes. The most valuable and attractive package is again the 78.28% stake in SA Metalferos, the price of which has decreased by about 7% compared to the auction at the end of last year. Thus, the government hopes to receive about 843 million lei for the entire package, which is 56 million lei less than at the previous auction, and almost 65 million lei lower than the initial offer price in the summer of 2020. The auction is designed to sell the state-owned shares of 14 other companies, including 96-99% of the capital of 10 road companies, 60.18% of the package from the Chisinau hotel, 92.9% of the capital of Institut de Cercetare Rif-Acvaaparat from Balti, as well as 30.08% of SA Alimentarmaș from Chisinau, which have been in the bankruptcy process for more than ten years. Thus, the value of all the packages put up for auction exceeds one billion lei, but the chances that all of them will be sold are slim. The auctions will take place from 19 to 30 April 2021. The government plans to receive income of several hundred million lei this year from the sale of state property to cover some budget holes caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020, the PPA put up for sale assets worth more than 1.5 billion lei, and it was planned to collect about 700 million lei in the budget. However, the total value of privatized assets in 2020 at open auctions amounted to 420.52 million lei. The largest amount was received from the sale of a 5.62 hectare plot at 28 Vasile Lupu Street, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense. Thus, the initial asking price was 200 million lei, but the buyer offered 230 million lei.