Sale of Lece mine postponed due to complaints by creditors

Yesterday, the Commercial Court in Valjevo adopted the decision postponing the sale of the Lece mine, near Medvedja, which has been in bankruptcy since 2017. The sale of the mine as a legal entity was previously scheduled for August 26, when the public bidding was planned.

According to the decision that Forbes Srbija has had an insight into, the Commercial Court in Valjevo decided to uphold the complaints of the bankruptcy creditors Moderano Investments doo and Alta Banka Belgrade, as well as the complaints sent by the interested parties Miroslav Bogicevic and the Sombor-based company DEM-HELLAS, and postpone the sale of the mine.

Nearly all of them complained about the too-high price of the buyout documentation, which is higher than a million euros, pointing out that it was an attempt to push out the competition from the bidding for the purchase of the mine. Forbes Srbija also pointed to it in the article “Unbelievable price for Lece mine documentation buyout: Is this the competition killer ahead of the sale?”

Too-expensive documentation

Moderano Investments complained about the price of the buyout documentation of as much as RSD 129.7 million. Another complaint made by them is that the sale of a mine of international significance is advertised only in local dailies, namely, Politika and Danas.

At Moderano, they believe that the sale of the mine is organized “contrary to the principles of equal treatment and equality and things being done economically and publicly, by striving to eliminate the competition, and to the end of selling it to a known buyer.”

Also, this creditor’s complaint pertained to the estimated value of the mine itself. They say that, if the estimate were done at the current price of gold, the mine would be estimated at USD 100 million, and not 75 million, as the valuer estimated.

Let us remind that, in the ad for the sale of the Lece mine, its estimated value is RSD 8.09 billion, which is USD 75 million, so it was determined that the initial price at the public bidding would amount to 50% of the value, that is, RSD 4.04 billion.

The other creditor, Alta Banka, notes that it hasn’t even been notified of the sale, and in addition to that, it also has a complaint regarding the too-high price of the buyout documentation and the too-short period from the publication of the ad to the organization of the sale. Alta Banka also warns that the estimated value of the mine is not adequate, because the price of gold is rising.

The owner of the Lece mine, through the company Koncern Farmakom MB, has nearly identical complaints. Miroslav Bogicevic, as well as the company DEM-Hellas, point to the high price of the documentation and the short period between the ad and the public bidding. “Keeping in mind the special nature of the subject of the sale, the estimated value of the legal entity is unacceptable and below the border of what’s realistic,” they say in their complaints.

The decision adopted by the Commercial Court on August 20 says that “the reasons based on which the valuer has determined that the best way to sell the mine is as a legal entity have not been provided, because the ratio of the estimate of the total value of the mine as a legal entity and the values of the individual parts of the property of the mine has not been provided.” It is not clear how they have come to the conclusion that the Lece mine should be sold as a legal entity.

Furthermore, as everybody’s complaints pertain to the price of the buyout documentation, the court orders the bankruptcy supervisor to reconsider the price of the buyout when advertising the sale again, so that the sale would be more transparent and efficient.

Complaints to the court’s decision may be made within eight days of the date of reception, says the document that Forbes Srbija has had an insight into.

Privredni sud Valjevo

Moderano investments doo Beograd

Alta banka ad Beograd

Dem-hellas d.o.o. Beograd

Rudnik Lece doo Šabac u stečaju

Commercial Court in Valjevo

Moderano investments doo

Alta banka

DEM HELLAS Sombor

Miroslav Bogićević

Lece mine near Medveđa

Koncern Farmakom MB rudnik Lece

sale of Lece mine

gold mine

Rudnik Lece Medveđa