After years of conflict and depressed markets, there could be a new beginning in 2006 for Kosovo's two magnesite enterprises. The Kosovo Trust Agency (KTA), an organisation set up in 2002 to advance the privatisation of dormant public companies in the country, has launched an international tender to find buyers for the Strezoc and Goleshi magnesite mines and associated magnesia plants. The two operations are being sold as separate concerns, with the last day for pre-qualification on 11 January 2006, and the date for first bids on 18 January. The second bid date is 25 January. Officially, Kosovo is still part of Serbia and Montenegro, but is under UN administration and talks on its future status are due to start in late 2005. The operations are likely to be of significant interest to the existing European magnesite and magnesia industry, particularly as operations within the EU become more expensive and more difficult to permit. Imports from China are also set to continue to decline. However, both have been idle for a number of years, and significant investment would be needed to bring them back to a sizeable production rate.
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