Kaliningrad Amber included in privatization plan for 2012-2013
MOSCOW. May 29 (Interfax) - Kaliningrad Amber Factory, Russia's amber monopoly, has been included in the list of state companies slated for privatization in 2011-2013, according to a decree Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed on May 24.
Inclusion of the federal unitary enterprise in the privatization plan means that the government is preparing to incorporate the company. Once it is reorganized into a joint-stock company it is supposed to be included in the privatization plan with its new organizational and legal form.
Kaliningrad Amber was not mentioned in the privatization plan before.
The Audit Chamber, Russia's public finances watchdog, recently conducted an audit of Kaliningrad Amber's business and the regulatory framework of this sector. The Chamber found signs of "gray schemes" being used in exports of amber produced by the company, and that the company does not sufficiently process the mineral.
The watchdog also found discrepancies between the amounts of amber exported from Russia and purchases of officially produced amber from the company, as well as violations of license conditions at the company's two main deposits. Following an inspection conducted with the Federal Security Service, the Chamber recommended that export quotas and export duties be imposed on amber in 2014.
In the course of the recent audit, Audit Chamber auditors also confirmed that the company needs to be incorporated, while remaining state owned, according to the Kaliningrad Region administration.
Kaliningrad Amber, which is under the jurisdiction of the federal Finance Ministry, mines amber in Kaliningrad Region, which holds more than 90% of the world's known reserves of the mineral. The company, declared bankrupt in 2006, recovered to stable amber production in 2009-2011, producing 1,026.8 tonnes of amber over this period and posting a net profit of 560.4 million rubles in the three years. Sales in 2011 totaled 961.9 million rubles.
Kaliningrad Amber produced 342 tonnes of amber in 2011, up slightly from 341 tonnes in the previous year. The company reported that it sold about 77% of its amber on the domestic market and exported about 23%.