Asarel Medet became the Investor and Employer of the year Asarel Medet JSC convincingly stood the position of a leading Bulgarian mining company in 2007, said CEO Lachezar Tsotsorkov. The mining company was distinguished as one of the best employers in the country in a Hewitt research, and Investor of the year in the Bulgarian Investments Agency ranking. In 2007 the implementation of the plan for production modernization, that started in 2005, was successfully finished, said Tsotsorkov. It is worth USD 100 mln. Thanks to the plan, the mining output reached the record 58 mln tones, which is 12 per cent more than the output in 2006. The expected processed copper ore is 12.411 mln tones to planned 12 mln. tones.
Source: Pari (02.01.2008)

Three Countries Vie for the Investment of the Century The construction of a new steel complex in Bulgaria is under discussion. The Austrian Voest Alpine steel giant plans to build a metallurgical plant in Bulgaria, Romania or Ukraine. The investment worth varies between 6 and 10 billion euro. Some 10,000 new jobs will be opened, Romanian newspaper Adevarul wrote. The Austrians will consider three possible locations for the new plant in Ukraine and two - in Bulgaria; all of them at the Black Sea coast. By the middle of 2008, three possibile sites will be singled out to be scrutinized and analyzed; it might be that all three of them are in one and the same country. The project design and implementation will take 4-5 years. The steel works is to be put into operation by the end of 2012 or in the beginning of 2013. The media qualified it as "the battle for the investment of the year." The sum of 10 billion euro exceeds Bulgaria's annual state budget (the state budget for 2008 amounts to 18.3 billion euro.) Adevarul writes that Bulgaria has proved to be more aggressive in attracting investments than Romania, but our country lacks a large-scale port infrastructure. Voest Alpine has been an active investor in Bulgaria for the last several years. The company is one of Kremikovtsi's strategic partners. Rumous have been spread that the Austrians intend to buy Bulgaria's biggest steel works. Voest Alpine is the majority owner of Assarel Medet in Panagyurishte - the biggest plant for copper ore processing on the Balkans.
Source: Standart (11.01.2008)

Sasho Donchev, CEO of the biggest private gas-supply company in Bulgaria - Overgas Inc. JSC and Lachezar Tsotsorkov, CEO of Asarel Medet JSC participate in a high level meeting of the initiative Civilizations Allianz in Madrid on 15 and 16 January. Sasho Donchev and Lachezar Tsotsorkov are engaged in the discussions of the role of business in the encouraging of the dialogue between cultures and religions. Overgas and Asarel Medet are members of the Global Contract of UN – the biggest world voluntary platform for socially responsible business.
Source: Agency Focus (16.01.2008)

Asarel Medet invests over BGN 11 mln in ecology per year Asarel Medet has invested more than BGN 11.2 mln in ecology in 2007 solely. According to the company management this is one of the reasons why the company was awarded this year with an award for socially responsible business at the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum in the category Investor in Environment 2007. ‘It is very important for us that we have a long-term ecological policy and we take the investments in environment as a key factor for a stable future development. One of the proofs is that in 2002 we defended the first in Bulgaria ISO 14 001certificate for protection of the environment, pointed out the CEO of Asarel Medet Dr. Eng. Lachezar Tsotsorkov. The new ecological projects of the company are focused on water preservation through a modern system of hydrological installations and recultivation of the terrains. In 2007 the company team has prepared the western dirt bank of the mine for technical and biological recultivation. The company has an installation for sorption of copper from wastewater that has been constructed on a specially designed technology and is currently put into operation. The Panagyurishte-based company plans to invest in the construction of installation for extraction and electrolysis of copper.
Source: Dnevnik (27.02.2008)

Der Standart: Bulgaria and Romania fight for the investments of the concern Voest Alpine The investments that the steel concern Voest Alpine plans to make in the Cherno More region are about EUR 7 bln, says Der Standart daily. The intentions of the steel concern led to sharp rivalry between Bulgaria and Romania trying to attract the investment program at their site at any price. Ukraine joined the chase declaring that the country can provide its port Pivdeniy near Odesa. Turkey is in the list as well, although it is not considered one of the favorites. The most appropriate among the ten candidates is expected to be announced in the summer and the final decision is expected to be made in the autumn. Voest Alpine is one of the leading European steelmakers, having its own steelmaking bases. The five divisions – steel, precious steel, railroad systems, profiles and automobiles take leading positions in the world markets. The company is presented in 50 countries all over the world having 350 plants at its disposal. More than 40,000 people work for Voest Alpine, which contributes to the annual turnover of over EUR 10 bln. More than 40 percent of the turnover comes from orders of the Automobile Industry, Railroad and Aircraft Industry. Voest Alpine invests actively in Bulgaria for several years now. The concern is one of the strategic partners of Kremikovtzi and even rumors emerged that it can buy the Bulgarian steelmaker. Voest Alpine is a majority owner of Asarel Medet in Panagyurishte – the biggest copper ore processing company on the Balkans.
Source: Agency Focus (10.03.2008)

Asarel Medet JSC - Panagyurishte has appointed Annual general meeting on 28.05.2008. Meeting agenda includes: adoption of the Annual Report for Year 2007.
Source: Registry Agency (21.04.2008)

Asarel Medet trains specialists with EU funds Te mining company Asarel Medet, managed by CEO Lachezar Tsorkov, won a BGN 69 mln project from the Human Resources Development program. For the period of one year, four groups including a total of 107 managers and specialists of the company, will be trained. The courses have already begun. The Supreme Manager team will first discuss how to make quick and effective managerial decisions. The mining complex is investing in its long-term human resources and was awarded The Best Employer award last year. Asarel Medet reported a 7 times increase in the training courses taken during the last 5 years. Currently the company has invested over 8 times more funds into the improvement of the knowledge and qualification of its employees. The budget of the new project is worth BGN 98,702.35, of which 30% secured by the company.
Source: Pari (13.05.2008)

Retail Engineering LTD started the implementation of the project:" Station for GSM to TSRB" of Asarel Medet AD Panagiurishte. The implementation of the task includes construction of a station for GSM and supply, installation, setup and putting into operation of equipment for loading the lorries of the mine with oil and antifreeze. The equipment includes also an electronic system for monitoring and reporting of incoming and outgoing flows of automobile oil and antifreeze.
Source: Company information (30.06.2008)

Asarel Medet bought a unique for Bulgaria construction machinery The machione – telescopic lifter (telehander), bought from Euromarket Group, was made by Manitou Group for operation in extreme conditions and bad roadability. It is used for lifting and moving big heavy loads and bulk materials. Especially for Asarel Medet, the telehander is equipped with a manipulation clip for change of the tires of the big mine-trucks. The machine is highly passable and manoeuvreable thanks to the 4õ4õ4 operated wheels. The trailers of the trucks are loaded and unloaded from the one side only. Asarel Medet JSC is the first and biggest Bulgarian company for opencast mining and dressing of copper and other ores. Manitou is a leading producer of telescopic lifters in the world with over 50-year histrory and presence in more than 120 countries. The technological innovations of the company correspond to the highest European and international standards.
Source: Construction City (28.07.2008)

Cumerio Med opens will tripple its cathode copper output by a new refinery Cumerio copper plant in Pirdop will open its new refinery for production of cathode copper in the beginning of next week. The installation is put into operation in July and already operates at full capacity. The management of the company expects almost 3-fold higher output from 65,000 tons to 180,000 tons annually. Since April this year the company has a new owner – Germany-based concern Norddeutsche Affinerie AG. The holding company acquired Belgium-based Cumerio Group, which owned the Pirdop plant. The merged company is the biggest coppermaker in Europe and the third biggest producer of cathode and anode copper in the world. The annual output of the concern totals to EUR 10 bln. The name of the new company is still unclear and as for now it is called NA Cummerio Group. The biggest plant of ex-Cumerio is stationed in Bulgaria. Last year Cumerio Med produced 249,000 tons of anode copper, which is the raw material for cathode copper. Most of it was exported for further manipulation as the Bulgarian plant did not have the necessary capacity. Only 40% of the raw material for the production of copper is extracted in Bulgarian copper mines – Asarel Medet and Elatsite Med. The reason is their relatively small extraction capacity, which cannot satisfy the needs of the plant. The main suppliers for the Pirdop-based mill are South American countries like Peru and Chile. The price of copper has halved in just one year. According to Bloomberd data, the 3-month futures in October 2007 costed USD 7,900 per ton, while the price now is USD 4,700. As to the estimates of the Bulgarian Chamber of Mining and Geology, the copper price will not lead to smaller output, on the contrary, it will increase the quantities. ‘Bulgarian mines managed to invest a lot in expansion of their operations, while the price was high and now they can offset for the drop with higher quantities’, Petar Petrov, CEO of the Chamber, explained. About 90% of the output of Cumerio Med is for export, mainly to Turkey, Greece and the Black Sea region. In Bulgaria the company sells semi-manifactured copper to Sofia Med. An interesting trend is that Bulgaria consumes more copper products than it produces. This is so, because the anode and cathode copper is exported to Greece and Turkey, where it is manifactured and returned as ready-to-use products. Cumerio Med produces about 900 thous tons of sulphur acid, which is a byproducts. The main customer for the acid is the fertolizermaker Agropolichim.
Source: Dnevnik (22.10.2008)

Asarel Medet will not reduce staff Ore extraction everywhere, including Bulgaria, is very vulnerable to the drastic drop of metal prices. Mining industry is among the greatest sufferers of the crisis. Asarel Medet AD will shrink the amount of investments by 50% to BGN 60 million for 2009 but staff cut-down is not expected, Lachezar Tsotsorkov, executive director of the company, said in an interview for Pari daily.
Source: Pari (24.11.2008)

Asarel Medet reduces its investment programme by 50% The management of the Panaguyrishte-based Asarel Medet JSC announced that the investment programme of the mining company would be reduced by half due to the global financial turmoil. Asarel, a first-class investor, will provide BGN 60 mln of investments next year from the BGN 120 mln this year. Industry experts are of the opinion that this is imposed by the sharp drop of international metals prices. Price of copper at LME dropped from USD 8,092 per ton during the first eight months of 2008 to USD 4,925 in October. The lowest daily price from 2005 up to now was registered on November 21 when copper was traded at USD 3,420. As for the moment, no job cuts are planned, but the structure and the regular schedule would be optimized. Currently, over 1,000 people work in the copper company.
Source: Darik Radio (27.11.2008)

Bulgarian smelter Assarel halves 2009 investments Assarel Medet, the copper mining and processing company based in Panagyurishte, Southern Bulgaria, will cut down next year’s investment plans by up to 50% to BGN 60 million due to the global financial crisis. The output target will be trimmed by up to 10%. “This is a protection mechanism in the company’s risk prevention and management programme. We do not plan to cut jobs but will streamline structure and establishment plans. We will also reduce costs for non-core operations,” said executive director Lachezar Tsotsorkov. Assarel Medet has pumped over USD 100 million on the market in the past three years.
Source: Dnevnik (28.11.2008)