Belgrade, Feb 24, 2004 - The Anti-Corruption Council said that Serbian steel plant Sartid from Smederevo was placed into receivership against regulations and indicated "elements of corruption" in the procedure.
The Council has asked the authorities to clarify the receivership procedure, Council President Verica Barac told a press conference on Tuesday.
Noting that Sartid's property is located in the municipality of Pozarevac, Barac said that it is unclear why the receivership procedure was transferred to the Belgrade Commercial Court when the Commercial Court in Pozarevac was charged with the case.
The Belgrade Commercial Court's documentation does not specify whether Sartid's privatisation included the sale of its five subsidiaries Stara Zelezara, Slobodna Zona and Sartid-Luka from Smederevo, Beli Limovi from Sabac and Veljko Dugosevic from Kucevo, Barac went on to say.
It is also unclear why Sartid's sell-off price was lower that the estimated value of one of its subsidiaries, she added.
With no board of creditors and too fast sell-off procedure, the Council believes that there were "elements of corruption" in Sartid's receivership, said Barac, adding that the Council has asked the public prosecutor to probe the case.
The Belgrade Commercial Court put Sartid into receivership in August 2002 due to its accumulated debts of $1.7 billion. The steel maker was sold to U.S. Steel in September 2003 for $23 million.
