Foreign investors are showing strong interest in acquiring Hellenic Sugar Industry‘s two factories in Serbia, Christos Rossios, chairman of the company told ANA on Tuesday, where he confirmed that an international tender for the sale of the two units was expected to be launched by the end of November.
The minimum price for the purchase of the two units in Serbia is 25 million euros, Rossios said, adding that the sale of the two units will offer a break to Hellenic Sugar Industry from its liabilities, allowing the management to complete its business plan of going international, restoring its lost credibility both with its partners and producers.
Rossios said that producers will be fully paid for 2015 by the end of the next week, with payment of 1.8 million euros owed by the company. He added that he has personally talked with producers in several regions in Northern Greece (Larisa, Plati, Kozani, Serres and Orestiada) with the aim of restoring relations and to expand cultivation areas. This year’s campaign ended 30 percent higher compared with last year’s production to 32,000 tons, from 24,000 tons in 2015.
Producers said they needed payment guarantees and said that once this condition was met, the number of growers could again reach 8,000 as in 2009, from 4,000 currently.
Hellenic Sugar Industry workers sounded less optimistic over the future of the industry, particularly after the sale of its factories in Serbia, saying the industry “resembled a boat drifting in uncharted waters.”
Source: ANA-MPA
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