TIRANA, May 5, 2008. The
closest we get to May 21, 2008, the
more we hear about the Russian
companies, which allegedly are trying
to buy ARMO, the state owned
refineries. The main Albanian newspapers
are speculating that the winner,
a regional oil company backed
up by the Russians, is already decided.
Gazeta Shqiptare is leading
the way finding ‘the Russians’ behind
every company approaching to
make an offer. Lately, Gazeta
Shqiptare claimed that the Russian
oil giants are behind even the
Croatian INA. A quick look at the
shareholding structure of INA reveals
that the Croatian state owns
44.85% of the shares and the Fund
of Croatian War Veterans owns another
7% of the shares of INA.
Gazeta Shqiptare went a step
further writing, “It is not to be excluded
the hypothesis that the Albanian
Minister of Energy, cunningly,
has suggested to his Russian
partners, who seem to exercise
some kind of ‘magnetism’
upon him, to use new Western
wrappings Šin order to realise
their powerful entry in our market”.
According to the Albanian daily
‘Shekulli’, the US Embassy in
Tirana declared that they are following
closely the privatisation (of
ARMO). The USA expect from the
Albanian government to conduct a
transparent and open process guaranteeing
equal rules of game for
all the interested companies. The
US embassy pointed out also, that
the diversification of energy resources
in Europe was one of the
priorities of United States. According
to the reports, the pressure from
the Albanian media forced the Albanian
Minister of Energy, Genc
Ruli, to write a letter to the US
embassy in Tirana. In its letter, Ruli
asked the US to screen all the pos-
ARMO and its privatisation
ARMO has one refinery at Ballshi, and another much smaller at
Fieri and a small network of fuel stations selling motor oil and
products. ARMO processes 2 million tons every year. It main product
is the diesel D2, which contains a high level of sulphur. The
use of D2 is banned in European Union. The main refinery is located
some 40 km from the nearest port, something cumbersome
for an oil processing company. ARMO controls around 25% of the
Albanian market.
The price for ARMO varies from Euro 50 million to Euro 150
million. ARMO has a share capital of 50 million euros and its assets
are valued at 100 million euros. ARMO itself and the Albanian
Ministry of Energy put the price close to Euro 110 million.
The potential buyer, either a single company or consortium,
should be an oil and gas sector specialist with at least three years
experience, a share capital of Euro 55 million and certifications of
international production standards. The winner of the tender will
be determined according to a points system, where three-quarters
of the total points are given according to price, and one quarter for
each suitor’s business and investment plan. (Tirana Times Staff)
sible ARMO suitors. For the moment,
12 foreign companies have
bought the procurement documents.
None of these companies is
incorporated in Russia or owned
by a Russian giant.
