Belarusian govt selling Belgips to Russia's Volma for $5-$7 mln
MINSK. Aug 8 (Interfax) - The Belarusian authorities have approved a decision to sell the government's entire 99.5% stake in drywall and gypsum partition block producer OJSC Belgips to Russian gypsum- and cement-based building materials manufacturer Volma Corporation, Belarusian Architecture and Construction Minister Anatoly Nichkasov said at a Thursday press conference.
"This topic has been considered at the government level, and it was approved in principle by the presidential administration. At the request of Russian company Volma, the government stake will be transferred to it once preparations of the investment contract are finished," the minister said.
He added that the government will sell its stake for $5-$7 million.
At the moment, drafts of the business plan and investment contract are being drawn up and completed.
"We should sign the documents in the third quarter, after which investments will come in, primarily for modernizing the existing production facility, reducing energy intensity and improving environmental performance. Investments will simultaneously be made in the development of design estimates for the construction of a new enterprise," Nichkasov said.
In addition, "there is an agreement that the Russian investor will provide raw components - gypsum - which Belarus doesn't have - during the period of our enterprise's operations, at cost, at a reduced cost," the Belarusian official said.
The project entails modernizing the existing facility and building a new factory outside of Minsk.
The Minsk gypsum plant was commissioned in 1948. It was registered to state-run company Minsk Gypsum and Gypsum Construction Components Plant in 1997 and later registered to a unitary enterprise of the same name. In 2001 the company was corporatized, and OJSC Belgips was established on its basis.
Volma is one of Russia's largest producers of surfacing materials on the basis of gypsum and cement, including dry mixes, drywall and other items. The corporation includes production subdivisions in Volgograd, Voskresensk (Moscow region), Tatarstan and Chelyabinsk. It also has quarries in the Samara and Orenburg regions and Karachay-Cherkessia.