Serbia announced on Monday that it has once again extended its deadline for tenders to become a strategic partner in its Zelezra Smederevo steel plant.
The deadline was originally set for April, but was extended to May. New interest from three foreign companies, including the Luxembourg-based United Pilsen, the Donetsksteel Group in Ukraine and Russia’s Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company, prompted the government to extend the deadline again to September 10, VancouverDesi reports.
In 2003, the then-bankrupt plant was bought by US Steel for $33 million. It was sold to the Serbian government in January for the symbolic price of $1 after the U.S. giant decided to pull out due to the global economic downturn.
The government’s purchase of the plant was an effort to save jobs in Serbia. Unions say that 100,000 jobs in the country depend on Zelezara Smederevo.
The plant was Serbia’s biggest single exporter in the 2000s.
Potential bidders for the plant must have a track record in the business, operating revenues of at least $1.3 billion or assets worth at least $1.8 billion according to
VancouverDesi.