Azerbaijani businessman set to acquire Ukraine's largest titanium producer in privatization auction
Cemin Ukraine LLC, a company owned by Azerbaijani businessman Nasib Hasanov, was the only participant in the privatization auction for JSC United Mining and Chemical Company (UMCC Titanium), according to Prozorro.Sale platform.
Hasanov is the owner of NEQSOL Holding, which includes Vodafone Ukraine.
The starting price for UMCC Titanium was set at UAH 3.90 billion ($94.7 million), and Cemin Ukraine offered UAH 3.94 billion ($95.7 million).
Volodymyr Lavrenchuk, the regional director of NEQSOL, commented to LIGA.net that the holding is awaiting the completion of the privatization process and the official announcement of results in accordance with the applicable procedures.
According to the procedure for conducting electronic auctions for large-scale privatization objects, if fewer than two bids are submitted, the privatization body must decide within five working days whether to proceed with the sale.
Lavrenchuk stated that NEQSOL views UMCC Titanium as a strategic investment.
"NEQSOL Holding [...] if recognized as the winner, plans to fulfill all privatization obligations, including social, environmental, and technical commitments, while implementing plans for modernization, developing new products through deep raw material processing, and expanding into global markets," he said.
In 2005, NEQSOL entered the telecommunications industry by acquiring Bakcell in Azerbaijan. In 2019, NEQSOL bought Vodafone Ukraine, the second largest mobile operator in the country, from the Russians.
The holding is also present in the market of construction services and materials, engaged in the production of cement and related materials. The Norm company, founded in 2013, is the largest cement producer in the South Caucasus.
The United Mining and Chemical Company is one of the world's largest producers of titanium raw materials, which has 4% of the world market and is among the top ten in the world in terms of production volumes. It is a leader in the production of ilmenite, rutile and zircon concentrates in Ukraine and Europe.
It has two branches: Vilnohorsk mining and metallurgical plant (Malyshevskoe field, Dnipropetrovsk region) and Irshan mining and beneficiation plant (Mezhyrichne field, Zhytomyr region).