Energoprojekt wants to take over PIM Ivan Milutinović - company ready to set aside up to 20m EUR

(Miodrag Zečević)

- Energoprojekt is interested in takeover of PIM Ivan Milutinović, for which it could set aside between 10 and 20m EUR - Miodrag Zečević, the President of the Administrative Board of Energoprojekt, told eKapija and added that the request for takeover had already been submitted to the Privatization Agency and that the company for waterways was familiar with that.

- PIM Ivan Milutinović is interesting to us because it could supplement our corporate structure and activities and that is why we addressed the state and asked to be included in the further process of privatization. We have not got any reply yet, and possible acquisition would be financed from our own sources. My roughest estimate is that the investment in takeover will be between 10 and 20m EUR, exclusive of investments in restructuring of the company - said Zečević who participates in the Business Forum on Kopaonik.

He said that Holding was not thinking about strategic partnership at the moment, neither in Serbia nor in the surrounding countries.

- I don't see what a strategic partner could offer to Energoprojekt. In the following period we intend to focus on maintenance and expansion of the market we already have, and we will also invest in training of our staff. I can not claim with certainty whether and how the ownership structure of the company will change because it depends on everyday fluctuations on the Stock Exchange. If the state advertises the sale of its package of stocks, we will take that offer in consideration, but we currently have no plans in that field. The Pension and Disability Insurance Fund and the Share Fund own 35% of stocks - said Zečević.

When asked about dual listing, that is, appearance on some other stock exchange, Zečević said that they had some plans, but that he had no new information on that procedure.

Merger of enterprises

He reminded that Energoprojekt Holding had adopted the plan for merger of its ten dependent companies, while the changes in organization of business may be expected already in 2010 or in mid-2011.

- These enterprises are majority owned by Energoprojekt, so that one of the plans is the merger of the enterprises that deal with civil engineering and high-rise building, as well as the merger of Energoprojekt Oprema and Energodata, which closely cooperate in the domain of information technologies and energy. We take our time with introduction of these measures because I think that our country has finally got a rational view of the crisis, so that Energoprojekt will be adapting to the situation in the domestic market in the following period, while taking care of the social component of business.

He also said that the biggest consequences of the global financial crisis were felt by the high-rise building sector and pointed out that the company would be focused on consolidation of operations in that sector in the future.

- The effects of the crisis on energy sector and infrastructure are very small, almost negligible, and the results in these sectors are significantly better than in the sector of high-rise building.

Energoprojekt operates in 30 countries worldwide and has 2,740 employees.

T.S.