by oneself

Yesterday, in the administration of the Rostov region, the Minister of Industry, Energy and Natural Resources of the Rostov Region Sergei Nazarov held a meeting with representatives of the capital's Akropol Bank, which is an investor in the construction of three new mines and a processing plant in the Eastern Donbass. As Kommersant learned, the management of this bank, which has already invested in new enterprises, according to various sources, from $6 to $30 million, intends to involve Sberbank of Russia in financing the completion of construction and asked the minister to provide support in this. Kommersant In May 2001, a tripartite agreement was signed between the administration of the Rostov region, the management of Akropol JSCB and OJSC Donugol on investment in the completion of the construction of three mines of this company (Sherlovskaya-Naklonnaya, Obukhovskaya-1 and Kadamovskaya), as well as a processing plant with a total production capacity of 4 million tons of anthracite. Akropol Bank expected to invest 1.5 million rubles monthly in the project. The commissioning of the Sherlovskaya-Naklonnaya mine is planned for the second quarter of 2002, the group concentration plant for the third quarter of 2003, the Obukhovskaya-1 mine for the third quarter of 2004 and the Kadamovskaya mine for the third quarter of 2005.

As Valery Sharavov, deputy general director of Rostovshakhtstroy OJSC (the company is constructing the Donugol mining structures), told Kommersant, at the moment, mining work at the first of the planned Sherlovskaya-Naklonnaya mines is almost completed. According to Mr. Sharavov, with sufficient funding, the mine could be put into operation in 6-8 months. A mine with a longwall capacity of 2-3 thousand tons of production daily and a seam thickness of 1.4 m is considered promising. However, according to him, construction has currently stopped due to unresolved financial issues regarding the purchase of mining equipment.

The solution to this issue depends on the investor - Akropol CB. However, as a source in the bank itself told Kommersant, Acropolis currently does not want to bear the financial risks of constructing mines alone and hopes to attract the South-West Bank of Sberbank of the Russian Federation to finance the completion of construction. Yesterday, the management of Acropolis turned to the SWB SB with a proposal for financial cooperation. Sberbank refused to comment on the results of negotiations with Acropolis. The lending department of the SWB SB noted that a specific decision on this issue has not yet been made.

The exact figure of investments already made by Acropolis in the construction of mines has not yet been disclosed. According to the RO administration, according to the plan, Acropolis was supposed to invest 46 million rubles in construction in 2001, and 138.3 million rubles in 2002, but did not comply with these rates. According to information from other sources, the bank has already invested about 978 million rubles in construction, but only 66.1 million rubles have been used. The Kommersant bank itself refused to give an explanation, citing the confidentiality of the information.

At the same time, the regional Minister of Industry, Fuel and Energy Sergei Nazarov noted to Kommersant that the German company Ruhrkohle has already shown interest in these unfinished mines. For now, she is exploring the possibility of her participation in completing the construction of these enterprises.

SERGEY KISIN

Kommersant (Rostov) No. 115 dated 07/04/2003, p. 12

Acropolis does not want to take risks