Armenian company leads talks on chemical giant’s future

Mediamax news agency
5 Nov 04

YEREVAN

The Armenian company Flash will from now on conduct talks with Russian
investors on the sale of chemical giant Nairit, Armenian Central Bank
Chairman Tigran Sarkisyan told a briefing in Yerevan today.

Tigran Sarkisyan recalled that Nairit’s shares belong 100 per cent to
Haykapbank [Armenian communications bank] and the Flash company is
carrying out the programme to revive the bank, Mediamax reports. The
programme to revive the bank is supervised by the IMF, which is
demanding that the process be finished by the end of this year.

Mediamax news agency recalls that on 16 April this year an agreement
was signed at the Armenian Central Bank on the sale of 100 per cent of
Haykapbank’s shares to Russia’s Volgaburmash holding
company. Addressing a briefing after the signing of the agreement,
Volgaburmash representative Mikhail Zavertyayev said that the
restoration of Nairit’s position on the Russian synthetic rubber
market was the priority for the holding company. For reasons of
commercial confidentiality Zavertyayev refused to disclose the cost of
the deal to acquire Nairit’s shares. He said that Volgaburmash had
worked out a draft project on the reconstruction of the enterprise,
aimed at resuming the production of bu tadiene at Nairit. Mikhail
Zavertyayev said that since 2003 Volgaburmash had invested 3.5m
dollars in Nairit.

Tigran Sarkisyan said today that the Russian holding company had
demanded that the revival programme for Haykapbank be prolonged for
four months, but, taking into account the commitments before the IMF,
the Armenian side had not given its consent to this and had “decided
to implement the revival programme with another investor, the Armenian
Flash company”.

The Central Bank chairman said that Flash had invested more than 1m
dollars in the bank and had finished the revival process. Tigran
Sarkisyan said that Flash was now conducting talks directly with the
Russian side on Nairit’s fate.

He said that for four months the Russian side would be studying
Nairit’s technical possibilities and would make a corresponding
decision. Tigran Sarkisyan said that the 100 per cent of shares in
Nairit were reflected in Haykapbank’s balance sheet at the nominal
price of 14.2m dollars. The bank has to realize these assets in the
next six months, according to current Armenian legislation.