"No money" or how the fate of a large enterprise is being decided in Armenia

ArmInfo. It is necessary to  find $ 5 million to use the Karakert stone foundry in Armenia, Suren  Gevorgyan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Karakert Stone  Foundry said at a meeting of the Committee on Financial-Economic and  Budgetary Affairs of the Public Council under the President of  Armenia.

According to him, the plant, which is the only one in Europe capable  of producing high quality products and complex configurations from  basalt casting, was commissioned in 1992 and is still in a state of  conservation. The enterprise has a full-fledged production  infrastructure for the organization of production.  The territory of  the plant is 20 hectares. On the available free area of 5 hectares  provides for the organization of stone-processing production. If  necessary, it is possible to increase the territory to 50 hectares.  At the same time, the plant's main assets - buildings, structures,  railway branch are in satisfactory condition and require  insignificant investments. When solving the financing problem, the  enterprise will be able to reach the annual turnover of $ 100 million  at the first stage, of which $ 50 million will be net profit.

Suren Gevorgyan added that he submitted to the government a program  to develop perlite exports to Russia and bring the production to $ 1  billion a year, but this program did not find its response in the  executive structures. According to him, Armenia produces 1 cubic  meter perlite at a price of $ 300, in Russia the same product could  be sold at a price of $ 800, and in Europe - for $ 1200. "The  profitability is so high that all transportation costs will pay off,"  Gevorgyan assured, adding that only in Russia the requirements for  heat and sound insulation plates made of perlite are 50 million cubic  meters, and Armenia could supply up to 15 million cubic meters. m.  "Do not take this opportunity means to commit a crime, especially  since the deposit, which is capable of providing the enterprise with  raw materials for 300 years, is close," the head of the Council  believes. He stated his readiness to donate 49% of shares in favor of  the state free of charge in order to solve the task.

He recalled that during the Soviet era Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum  Combine was the customer of construction of the enterprise, which in  the post-Soviet period, being privatized, lost interest in the same  initiated project. "In this, CJSC Kocharian (Robert Kocharian - the  second president of Armenia -red.) Brought his share to 90%, and  about Karakert factory he does not care," Suren Gevorgyan was  indignant.  He added that he now has to seat the thresholds of  official structures in order to find the necessary financial  resources, since commercial banks of the country do not issue credit  to an inactive enterprise, and international financial institutions  require state guarantees. "Everywhere I hear the same answer: there  is no money," the head of the enterprise stated.

The chairman of the commission, the head of the public organization  Union of Domestic Producers Vazgen Safaryan said that he spoke on  this issue with the Vice-Premier, Minister of International Economic  Integration and Reforms Vache Gabrielyan, who proposed to submit  proposals to the ministry headed by him to activate the plant. To  this end, the members of the commission decided to form a working  group of experts who will conduct the certification of the plant,  develop a cost estimate for submission to the government and seek a  solution to the problem within the framework of public-private  partnership.

The plant contains a procurement site, where basalt is sorted,  grinding, blending, stirring and feeding into a open-hearth furnace  (production capacity 32 tons/day with a temperature of 1500-1550 ш  C). There are also automatic devices for pressing basalt casting. The  main advantage of the plant is the unique structure of annealing  furnaces for Europe, which makes it possible to obtain acid-resistant  items from basalt casting of the most complex configuration and ideal  quality. There is a workshop with all the necessary equipment for the  production of glass, crystal and windshield manufacturing for all  types of cars, where special equipment is installed for heat  treatment of glass and shaping it. The plant is provided with two  independent power stations, gas and oil supply systems, water supply  (artesian wells, 2 pumping stations), boiler room, 7 boilers,  mechanical section, waste treatment plant, 3-storey administrative  building, underground sewerage, railway, new locomotive, asphalted  roads, warehouses, transport, etc.

The plant is located 4-7 km from large nonmetallic ore deposits and  is able to become the center of complex processing of nonmetallic ore  materials of Armenia (diatomite, perlite, basalt, tuff, zeolite).