Kazchrome is conducting talks with western companies about a merger

/IRBIS, June 23, 00/ - REUTERS informs, with the reference to the chairman of Eurasian bank, Aleksandr Mashkevich, that the Kazakhstani transnational company Kazchrome conducts talks with some western companies about a merger. TNC Kazchrome is one of the companies controlled by Eurasian bank, is said. He said there were some well-known European and US companies that want to merge with Kazchrome, and if currently conducted talks are to be successful it would be the first experience for the Kazakhstani business and make Kazchrome the number one chromium producer in the world. The chairman said they were attracting serious experts and then the suggestions would be given to the government as the second shareholder. He also informed that lately the company had expanded its market and it was going to ship to China. Mainly, the products of the company are exported to the USA, European countries and to Southeast countries, is said. According to Mashkevich, the company's last year profit was three times more than that in 1998, and it is expected to grow this year. The production of Kazchrome is to equal 843,400 tons of ferroalloys this year, is said. Eurasian bank is ready to act as an investor of the energy system of Almaty, substituting the Belgian Tractebel which has left Kazakhstan recently, said Mashkevich. He said the authorities of the city has set strict requirements to potential investors of the energy system such as leaving the electricity and heat tariffs unchanged for the next five years. Mashkevich said despite strict requirements, the bank was ready to participate in the venture, thus showing their social orientation.