Construction experts consider Ciment JSC unable to supply the demand of the sector

Construction experts consider that “Ciment” JSC is unable to satisfy the demand of the Moldovan construction sector once the national project of social homes will get started and the company would only provide 1150 thousand tonnes a year. According to www.ipoteka.md web-site the annual consumption could be of 1650 thousand tonnes in 2010. If the government will start to build social dwellings, it will be necessary to put into commission about 900 sq m of homes yearly. According to the government’s intentions, there are 50 thousand apartments (3-3.5 mln sq m) to be built in a period of 3 to 4 years. The government has announced recently that it will start negotiations with the Council of Europe Development Bank to borrow EUR 4.9 mln to partly finance a social dwelling project in Moldova. The total cost of the project is estimated at EUR 7.6 mln. The draft law on dwellings, stipulating that the authorities are to build social dwellings for the poor strata of population, has passed the first reading. According to the project, the plan will be implemented by building new homes and renovating old ones. The cost of the construction will be covered by the state budget, as well as by the local ones and different investments. The country’s demand of cement constituted in 2006 roughly 900,000 tonnes. 756,000 tonnes were provided by JSC "Ciment" to the domestic market (and 59 thousand were exported). As for the Ukrainian companies, they supplied nearly 150 thousand tonnes (registering a twofold decrease comparing with 2005) and additional 8-9 thousand tonnes were supplied by Romania. In 1999, "Lafarge" Group purchased a 52% stake of JSC "Ciment" pledging to invest nearly USD 12 mln. At this moment "Lafarge", owns 94%, with 4% belonging to the government, and the remainder to small shareholders