PM Comments on Privatization of Manganese Mining Factory

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli said that the government is considering several investment bids regarding the privatization of Chiaturmanganumi, a manganese mining factory in Chiatura.

“Our final decision will depend on the quality of the submitted investment bids: the proposed price and future investments [in the enterprises],” Nogaideli said on April 26.

In February, the British company Stemcor, which owns Zestaponi Ferro Alloy Plant in western Georgia, expressed interest in purchasing Chiaturmanganumi and the Vartsikhe hydro power plant.

Economy Minister Irakli Chogovadze said on April 26 that the British company’s interest in Chiaturmanganumi is natural, because it is more profitable if one company owns these two interlinked enterprises – Zestaponi Ferro Alloy Plant and Chiaturmanganumi.

Last January Russia’s EvrAzHolding bought shares in Chiaturmanganumi and the Vartsikhe hydro power plant, but pulled out from a privatization deal in June, 2005, reportedly because of falling manganese prices.