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NAIRIT CONCERNS: ARMENIAN RUBBER PLANT'S FUTURE LINKED TO PROMISED RUSSIAN INVESTMENT
NEWS | 16.07.14 | 10:03
http://armenianow.com/news/56075/armenia_nairit_hovik_abrahamyan_medvedev_rosneft
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, who visited Sochi late last
week, during talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev also
discussed the issue of Rosneft's investment in Armenia. The official
report about the meeting confirms this, but it presents no details
about what specific agreements, if any, were reached.
Rosneft had promised to invest in Armenia's chemical giant Nairit
or build a new rubber plant. However, as it was later reported,
the Russian company does not want to take on the current debts of
the Armenian plant.
Nairit is one of the largest enterprises in Armenia that employs about
3,000 people. The plant's products are in demand on the international
market, however, because of mismanagement the plant has been idling
for several years. Nairit workers, most of whom are temporary laid
off, periodically stage protests demanding their back wages for
17-18 months. The latest of such protests took place on July 10,
the day before Abrahamyan left for talks with Medvedev.
Ninety percent of Nairit's shares belong to offshore company Rhinoville
Property Limited, which in 2006 borrowed a loan from the CIS Interstate
Bank, mortgaging the plant. The loan was not invested into the plant
and could not be repaid later. So, the Moscow Arbitration Court in
January upheld the suit of the Interstate Bank, which demands that
Nairit pay $107.95 million to it.
The parliamentary faction of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) presented to the Armenian government a
package of proposals on Nairit and suggested establishing a commission
on the issue. "The main objective should be the restarting of the
plant, and the question of responsibility comes out of this," said
Dashnaktsutyun lawmaker Artsvik Minasyan.
There have also been calls for nationalization of the plant and
attraction of investments through government channels. However,
nationalization, apparently, is not considered as an option. Experts
say that this may be due to the fact that some well-known persons
may be among the unknown shareholders of the plant.
In particular, the scandal around Nairit often was linked to the
name of Armenia's former prime minister, now ambassador to the
United States Tigran Sargsyan, whose brother is on the Nairit
Board of Directors. Some information was leaked to the Armenian
press according to which the loan for the plant had allegedly been
'arranged' by Sargsyan, who at that time was governor of the Central
Bank of Armenia and was directly linked to the CIS Interstate Bank.
The Interstate Bank does not intend to write off the debts of Nairit,
and it is possible that the government will take up part of the debt
in order to find an investor and restart the plant.
From: A. Papazian
NEWS | 16.07.14 | 10:03
http://armenianow.com/news/56075/armenia_nairit_hovik_abrahamyan_medvedev_rosneft
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, who visited Sochi late last
week, during talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev also
discussed the issue of Rosneft's investment in Armenia. The official
report about the meeting confirms this, but it presents no details
about what specific agreements, if any, were reached.
Rosneft had promised to invest in Armenia's chemical giant Nairit
or build a new rubber plant. However, as it was later reported,
the Russian company does not want to take on the current debts of
the Armenian plant.
Nairit is one of the largest enterprises in Armenia that employs about
3,000 people. The plant's products are in demand on the international
market, however, because of mismanagement the plant has been idling
for several years. Nairit workers, most of whom are temporary laid
off, periodically stage protests demanding their back wages for
17-18 months. The latest of such protests took place on July 10,
the day before Abrahamyan left for talks with Medvedev.
Ninety percent of Nairit's shares belong to offshore company Rhinoville
Property Limited, which in 2006 borrowed a loan from the CIS Interstate
Bank, mortgaging the plant. The loan was not invested into the plant
and could not be repaid later. So, the Moscow Arbitration Court in
January upheld the suit of the Interstate Bank, which demands that
Nairit pay $107.95 million to it.
The parliamentary faction of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) presented to the Armenian government a
package of proposals on Nairit and suggested establishing a commission
on the issue. "The main objective should be the restarting of the
plant, and the question of responsibility comes out of this," said
Dashnaktsutyun lawmaker Artsvik Minasyan.
There have also been calls for nationalization of the plant and
attraction of investments through government channels. However,
nationalization, apparently, is not considered as an option. Experts
say that this may be due to the fact that some well-known persons
may be among the unknown shareholders of the plant.
In particular, the scandal around Nairit often was linked to the
name of Armenia's former prime minister, now ambassador to the
United States Tigran Sargsyan, whose brother is on the Nairit
Board of Directors. Some information was leaked to the Armenian
press according to which the loan for the plant had allegedly been
'arranged' by Sargsyan, who at that time was governor of the Central
Bank of Armenia and was directly linked to the CIS Interstate Bank.
The Interstate Bank does not intend to write off the debts of Nairit,
and it is possible that the government will take up part of the debt
in order to find an investor and restart the plant.
From: A. Papazian