The Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) has denied the Finance Ministry’s speculations that TALCO has concealed incomes as absolutely baseless.
The company proposes to set up a joint commission to examine that fact.
“We do not know where that figure (3.8 billion somoni) came from,” Igor Sattarov, a spokesman for TALCO, told a briefing in Dushanbe on October 27.
Sattarov also noted that the Finance Ministry specialists were not well aware of tolling system.
He considers that the company now ought not to sort out relationship with the Finance Ministry. “Today, we have another task — to preserve the smelter,” Sattarov said
Recall that TALCO representatives consider that the tolling system has helped preserve the aluminum smelter.
According to them, the pervious company management had been working on the basis of exchange of goods by barter that had led to a US$536 million debt. “Besides, the off-balance-sheet debt had exceeded 120 million U.S. dollars,” TALCO representatives said on October 26. “In those years, it had been a question of starting the bankruptcy process and closing down the enterprise.”
As it had been reported earlier, a report by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) on TALCO’s activities in 2010-2015 and the first half of 2016, in particular, notes that in connection with being shifted to the tolling system, the Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) has been faced with unfavorable financial situation and he company is currently losing US$100.00 from production of each ton of the tolling aluminum. The shift to the tolling system has reportedly led to inefficient expenses, non-transparent financial accountability, increase in productive and nonproductive expenses, rise in receivables and payables.
TALCO’s main tolling partner, TALCO Management Ltd (TML), reportedly receives 500.00 U.S. dollars from production of one ton of primary aluminum while TALCO’s loss from production of one ton of primary aluminum now amounts to 100.00 U.S. dollars.
According to the report, TALCO earned 3.9 billion somoni (equivalent to 1.6 billion U.S. dollars) from production activity in 2010-2015.
“Taking into account the external commerce, to company has mentioned that it earned 10 billion somoni (equivalent to 2.7 billion U.S. dollars),” the report says noting that the company has not mentioned the income of 3.8 billion somoni (equivalent to 1.1 billion U.S. dollars) earned from external commerce.
The report notes that aluminum production in Tajikistan has annually declined by 12 percent since 2008.
Aluminum production reportedly decreased in Tajikistan from 348,800 tons in 2010 to 139,100 tons in 2015 (a 39.9 percent decline).
As of January 1, 2016, TALCO’s receivables reportedly reached 455.2 million somoni and its payables reached more than 2.257 billion somoni.
A total number of personnel at the company reportedly reduced from 10,166 people in 2010 to 7,623 people in 2015.
7,900 people now work for TALCO, which is 2,266 people fewer than in 2010.
The Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) is one of the ten largest aluminum smelters in the world and provides up to 70% of the country’s foreign currency earnings, consuming 30% of the country’s electrical power. TALCO is wholly owned by the Tajik government. Tajikistan does not mine alumina but imports the raw material through tolling arrangements.
Construction of the Tajik aluminum plant (TadAZ) began in 1972, and the first pouring of aluminum took place on March 31, 1975. On April 3, 2007, TadAZ was officially renamed to TALCO – Tajik Aluminum Company. The Tajik aluminum smelter had the capacity to produce 517,000 metric tons per year.
